DUKE 

UNIVERSITY 


LIBRARY 


/7TF-?- 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH 


a 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH 


A STUDY  OF  THE  DRINK-QUESTION 


BY 

AXEL  GUSTAFSON 


GINN,  HEATH,  & CO. 

PUBLISHERS 

BOSTON,  NEW  YORK,  AND  CHICAGO 


1884 


Ent' 

111  V 


■>  y..?:  or  Congress  in  the  year  1334,  by 
a2;ee  gussapson, 
ioe  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


G9S2F 


DEDICATION. 

To  my  wife,  who  has  fully  shared  with  me 
the  hard  year’s  work  of  which  this  little  book 
is  the  outcome,  I dedicate  it  in  gratitude  and 
admiration  for  the  genius  and  devoted  labour, 
literary  experience  and  skill,  by  which  every 
page  of  it  has  benefited. 


London,  May  29,  1884. 


u 

> 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/foundationofdeat01gust 


PREFACE 


In  the  time  which  I have  been  able  to  devote  to  this 
work — begun  in  April,  1883 — it  has  been  my  endeavour 
to  formulate  with  thoroughness  and  impartiality  as  to 
evidence,  and  with  conscientious  care  and  clearness  as 
to  combination  and  deduction,  all  that  is  clearly  known 
and  proven  regarding  the  grave  problem  of  alcohol 
and  human  life. 

At  the  outset  of  this  study,  I entertained,  besides  a 
good  deal  of  general  ignorance  on  the  subject  and  a 
mass  of  erroneous  notions,  the  idea  that  there  probably 
existed  a safe  dietetic  dose  of  alcohol ; that  such  a 
limitation  in  the  use  of  alcohol  could  be  secured  by 
suitable  legislation,  and  thus  the  rank  evil  of  drunken- 
ness be  stayed ; and  that  a proper  preliminary  to  this 
end  would  be  an  inquiry  into  what  in  the  various 
countries  had  been  deemed  the  most  successful  systems 
of  licensing. 


Vlll 


PREFACE. 


In  researches  which  covered  the  examination  of 
some  three  thousand  works,  dealing  more  or  less 
directly  with  the  alcohol  question,  I found  excellent 
matter  on  special  aspects  of  it,  but  no  single  work 
which  attempted  to  treat  of  it  in  a comprehensive 
manner.  The  world-literature  on  alcohol  is  enormous, 
largely  consisting  of  conflicting  or  dubious  statements  ; 
records  of  experiments  made  by  different  authorities 
reaching  divergent  conclusions  ; cogent  reasoning 
threaded  by  disintegrating  fallacies  ; and  contradictory 
promulgations  by  one  and  the  same  author  in  various 
works,  and  not  infrequently  in  different  parts  of  the 
same  work. 

Though  the  task  of  distinguishing,  from  among  the 
traces  along  such  a shore,  between  the  flotsam  and 
jetsam  of  the  fluctuating  tides  of  popular  prejudices 
and  notions,  and  the  actual  deposit  marking  the 
gradual  progress  of  Truth’s  laborious  but  certain 
advance,  might  fitly  engage  far  greater  powers  than 
mine,  I have  not  felt  deterred  from  making  this  earnest 
attempt. 

The  general  difficulty  in  selecting  from  super- 
abundance of  material  is  well  understood,  but  when  the 
aim  is  to  make  a sound  and  suitable  garment,  three 
times  the  quantity  of  cloth  needed  does  not  make  up 
for  its  being  blemished  and  perforated  in  every  yard. 
This  has  been  one  great  obstacle  in  the  selection  and 


PREFACE. 


IX 


arrangement  of  quotations  from  the  various  authors,  i.e., 
to  winnow  facts  and  significances  from  conflicting  evi- 
dence and  unsound  arguments,  to  pick  out  and  put  into 
their  proper  relations  the  clearest,  truest,  most  conse- 
quent dicta  I could  find,  so  as  to  form  a whole  and 
well-proportioned  statement  of  the  sum  of  experience 
and  fact  concerning  this  question. 

It  will  not  be  difficult  to  cite  from  authorities 
quoted  by  me,  in  one  sense,  other  passages  which  may 
seem'  to  modify  or  even  perhaps  contradict  those  I 
have  selected.  I can  forestall  criticism  on  such 
grounds  only  by  saying  that  unconscious  shuffling  or 
deliberate  equivocation  on  the  part  of  an  author  cannot 
take  from  the  intrinsic  value  of  any  truth  which  he 
has  once  seen,  stated,  and  served,  any  more  than  could 
Galileo’s  recantation  stop  the  sun. 

It  cannot  be  useful  to  perpetuate  a man’s  poorer 
and  weaker  words  merely  in  order  to  destroy  the  due 
effect  of  his  best  utterances.  And  though  individual 
inconsistencies  have  a certain  value,  it  is  not  to  them 
we  must  chiefly  look  for  the  solution  of  a great  question 
of  race  import,  but  to  the  general  tenor  and  character 
of  the  testimonies  given  by  the  cloud  of  witnesses  who, 
whether  from  a mixture  of  motives  or  in  single-minded- 
ness, have  studied  it;  and  it  is  from  the  points  of 
consent  where  scientists,  philosophers,  and  humani- 
tarians have  met  and  agreed,  that  we  may  hope  to 


X 


PREFACE. 


begin  a path  toward  the  whole  and  definite  truth  about 
alcohol  and  man. 

With  the  avowed  aim  of  dealing  with  the  whole 
liquor  question  from  every  side  and  standpoint,  it  has 
not  been  possible  within  the  limits  of  a work  cheap 
enough  to  be  in  reach  of  the  working  classes,  to  deal 
fully  with  the  drink  question  of  all  countries  in 
Chapters  X.  and  XIII.,  on  “ Social  Results  ” and 
“ What  can  be  Done  ? ” And  for  many  reasons  Great 
Britain  is  almost  exclusively  considered  in  both  these 
chapters,  especially  in  the  last.  In  each  of  the 
thirteen  chapters  I have  tried  to  include  only  what 
belongs  under  its  particular  heading,  and  to  the  best 
of  my  ability,  the  contents  of  each  chapter,  and  all  the 
chapters  in  relation  to  each  other,  have  been  arranged 
and  proportioned  so  as  to  bring  the  whole  into  good 
focus  for  the  reader,  at  whatever  point  he  may  incline 
to  take  up  the  subject. 

In  making  quotations  the  following  rules  have 
been  observed : — to  give  the  title  of  the  work,  with 
place  and  date  of  publication  ; to  quote  from  the  latest 
edition,  and,  if  another  work  by  the  same  author 
intervenes,  to  re-mention  in  full  the  preceding  work  if 
it  is  again  referred  to  in  the  same  chapter ; to  translate 
the  titles  of  foreign  works  into  English,  except  in 
cases  of  classical  or  such  modern  titles  as  have  not 
been  included  in  the  bibliography,  or  when  by  transla- 


PREFACE. 


XI 


tion  the  finding  of  the  work  cited  would  be  made  more 
difficult.  Such  quotations  as  have  been  rendered 
from  other  tongues  into  the  English  have  been  mostly 
translated  by  myself,  because,  when  I tried  to  use 
translations  already  made,  it  frequently  appeared  that 
they  were  inaccurate,  and  therefore  I thought  that  if 
fault  should  be  found  with  the  translated  portions  of 
my  book,  I would  prefer  being  responsible  for  my  own 
than  others’  mistakes  in  that  line. 

The  footnotes  are  not  less  valuable  in  their  bearing 
on  the  drink  question  than  the  body  of  the  text  from 
which  they  are  eliminated  for  easily  seen  reasons, 
generally  to  prevent  break  or  tenuity  in  the  argument. 

The  appendix,  with  the  exception  of  the  abstract 
from  the  last  report  of  the  British  Commissioners  of 
Lunacy,  deals  exclusively  with  the  rights  and  means 
of  legal  suppression  of  the  liquor  traffic.  In  order  to 
enable  the  reader  to  find  any  passage  by  the  table  of 
contents  as  readily  as  by  the  general  index,  the  text 
has  been  divided  throughout  the  book  into  numbered 
paragraphs,  accompanied  by  marginal  notes,  which  are 
found  in  the  same  order  in  the  table  of  contents ; and 
the  readiest  method  of  utilizing  the  bibliography  has 
been  explained  in  the  brief  preface  to  it. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  work  I have  received 
cordial  encouragement  and  the  kindest  assistance  from 
many  friends  of  temperance  reform  and  from  many  not 


Xll 


PREFACE. 


identified  with  it,  to  each  and  all  of  whom  my  grateful 
thanks  are  due,  and  are  here  warmly  rendered.  Among 
the  names  of  those  to  whom  I am  more  especially 
indebted  for  help  and  sympathy  indispensable  to 
my  undertaking  are  Mr.  Samuel  Morley,  M.P.,  Dr. 
Norman  Kerr,  Dr.  James  Edmunds,  Mr.  Robert  Rae, 
Dr.  Dawson  Burns,  Dr.  R.  Garnett,  Mr.  J olm  P.  Ander- 
son, Mr.  G.  W.  Eccles,  Mr.  J.  W.  Leng,  Mr.  T.  H. 
Evans,  Mr.  F.  Sherlock,  the  Rev.  Dr.  de  Colleville,  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  Dean  of  Westminster, 
Canon  Henry  J.  Ellison,  Earl  Shaftesbury,  and  Mr. 
J.  W.  Kolckmann,  the  German  publisher,  all  of 
England ; to  Mr.  L.  0.  Smith  of  Stockholm,  Dr.  L. 
Lunier  of  Paris,  Baron  Lynden  and  the  Rev.  A.  von 
Scheltema  of  Holland. 

While  the  book  has  been  going  through  the  press, 
I have  used  every  power  and  facility  at  my  command 
in  the  labour  of  revision  and  bringing  up  to  date. 
This  has  involved  a rearrangement  and  transposition 
of  portions  of  the  contents,  and  through  the  latter 
some  slight  verbal  errors  have  crept  in,  and  been 
discovered  too  late  for  correction  in  this  edition. 

As  to  the  title  of  the  book,  though  it  may  at  first 
appear  exaggerated  and  sensational,  I believe  it  to  be 
a scientifically  accurate  description  of  the  nature  and 
career  of  alcohol  in  the  life  of  man.  “ Life  never  is,  it 
is  always  becoming ; it  is  not  a state,  but  a flow,”  says 


PREFACE. 


Xlll 


Professor  J.  Moleschott.  Ancl  of  death  Dr.  Hufeland 
says,  “ Generally  speaking,  death  is  not  a change 
undergone  in  a moment,  but  a gradual  passage  from  a 
condition  of  active  to  a condition  of  latent  life.” 

As  there  are  many  springs  and  foundations  of  life,  so 
there  are,  doubtless,  many  foundations  of  death,  deaths 
national,  individual,  intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual, 
as  well  as  physical,  but  among  them  alcohol,  if  the 
true  story  of  it  is  told  by  those  who  bear  witness  in 
this  work,  is  pre-eminently  a destroyer  in  every  depart- 
ment of  life,  and  therefore  is  truly  the  foundation  of 
death. 


45,  Upper  Gloucester  Place, 

Portman  Square,  London,  N.W., 
May  28,  1884. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

, DRINKING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENTS. 

§ 1.  Difference  between  ancient  and  modem  ideas  of  life, 
especially  as  regards  drinking.  § 2.  Soma,  and  its  charac- 
teristics. § 3.  The  ancient  wine  traditions — Myths  about 
the  vine  as  being  the  forbidden  fruit — Traditions  as  to 
Noah  and  Satan  planting  the  vine — Origin  of  the  purple 
grape.  § 4.  Origin,  history,  and  character  of  Bacchus- 
worship — The  Eleusinian  mysteries.  §5.  Proofs  in  historic 
records  of  the  destroying  power  of  drink — Assyria,  Media, 
Persia,  Egypt,  Greece,  and  Rome — Drinking  among  the 
Sneves,  ancient  Scots,  Jews,  and  Mohammedans 


CHAPTER  II. 

HISTORY  OR  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  DISTILLATION. 

§ 6.  Causes  of  ignorance  regarding  the  discovery  of  distillation 
— Nature  and  meaning  of  distillation.  § 7.  China  and 
distillation — Arabia  and  distillation — Geber,  Rhazes,  Albu- 
cassis,  Raimundus,  Lullus,  and  Arnoldus  Yilla-Novus. 
§ 9.  Reasons  for  the  alchemists’  belief  in  alcohol,  and  for 
the  credulity  of  the  masses.  § 10.  Various  names  for 
alcohol — Derivations  of  the  word  alcohol 


CHAPTER  III. 

PRELIMINARIES  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  MODERN  DRINKING. 

§11.  Survey  of  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  sciences  of 
chemistry  and  physiology — Aristotle’s  four. element  theory 
— First  establishment  of  the  existence  of  chemical  elements 


XVI 


CONTENTS. 


— Lavoisier’s  discovery  of  the  basis  of  oxidation — The 
foundation  of  scientific  physiology  laid  in  1850  in  the  cell 
discovery.  § 12.  How  alcohol  became  a prominent  subject 
for  chemical  investigation — Discovery  of  ethyl,  methyl,  and 
amyl  alcohols — The  great  number  of  groups,  series,  and 
varieties  of  alcohols — The  elements  of  alcohol — The  natural 
sources  of  alcohols — The  meaning  and  processes  of  fer- 
mentation— The  nature,  action,  and  influence  of  ferments 
on  life.  § 13.  Date  of  the  first  discovery  of  the  real  nature 
of  alcoholic  ferments — Generation  of  yeast  fungi — The 
lethal  nature  of  alcoholic  fermentation — Saccharine  fer- 
mentation in  explanation  of  the  traces  of  alcohol  found  in 
water,  air,  and  earth — Alcohol  in  bread  fermentation — 
Alcohol  in  living  organisms,  plants,  and  animals.  § 14.  The 
tendency  of  alcohol  to  decompose  into  elements.  §15.  The 
various  chemical  and  industrial  uses  for  alcohols.  § 16. 
Sources  of  the  alcohols  found  in  drinks. — Malting — Various 
alcoholic  drinks  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  34 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ADULTERATIONS. 

§ 17.  Universality  of  liquor  adulteration — Various  poisons  used 
in  processes  of  adulteration.  § 18.  Reasons  why  wines 
are  adulterated — Adulterations  of  Rhine  wine.  § 19.  Port 
wine  and  sherry  adulterations — The  London  Times  on  sherry 
adulteration.  § 20.  The  Daily  Telegraph  on  Spanish  wine 
manufacture  from  raw  spirits — The  Daily  Neivs  on  the 
pending  wane  adulteration  treaty  with  Spain — Wine-forti- 
fying with  raw  potato-spirit  in  London  docks  under 
Government  supervision.  § 21.  Special  ills  and  diseases 
directly  traceable  to  the  adulterating  ingredients  in  wines. 

§ 22.  Beer  adulteration — Lupulit  ...  ...  ...  46 


CHAPTER  V. 

PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS  ; OR,  EFFECTS  OF  ALCOHOL  ON  THE 
PHYSICAL  ORGANS  AND  FUNCTIONS. 

§ 23.  Difficulty  in  fixing  the  normal  limit  of  human  life  — 
Opinions  of  Dr.  L.  Herman,  Dr.  J.  R.  Farre,  and  Prof.  P. 
Flourens  on  this  point — Man’s  responsibility  in  this  matter 
— Ignorance  the  chief  cause  and  alcohol  the  chief  agent 
in  shortening  life.  § 24.  The  wisdom  manifested  in  the 
laws  controlling  and  preserving  organic  life.  § 25.  Chemical 
elements  of  the  human  body — How  it  is  maintained — Defi- 
nition of  food — Division  of  foods— The  processes  of  nutri- 


CONTENTS. 


tion.  § 26.  The  nature  and  dual  mission  of  the  blood — Its 
constituent  parts  and  their  mission — -Water  the  paramount 
need  of  the  system — Drs.  W.  B.  Carpenter  and  Austin  Flint 
on  this  point — Drs.  Becquerel,  Rodier,  and  Albin  Koch  on 
the  predominance  of  water  in  the  blood.  § 27.  Definition 
and  division  of  poisons.  § 28.  The  attitude  of  the  medical 
profession  concerning  the  use  of  alcohol — Is  alcohol  food  ? 
— Dr.  Baer’s  statement  that  alcohol  contains  no  tissue- 
making compounds — Dr.  Klein’s  testimony  to  its  worthless- 
ness as  a food — How  the  idea  of  its  being  a food  came 
about.  § 29.  Alcohol  tried  by  food-tests.  § 30.  Alcohol 
inimical  to  life — Dr.  A.  Carlysle  on  this  point — A variety 
of  conditions  qualifying  the  effects  of  alcohol  on  man. 
§ 31.  The  hurtful  effect  of  alcohol  on  nutrition  twofold  : 
viz.  retardation  of  the  processes  of  digestion  and  assimilation, 
and  interference  with  the  purely  aqueous  nature  of  the  blood 
- — Description  of  its  effects  on  digestion — The  rapidity  of 
its  entrance  into  the  blood  alone  preserves  the  digestion 
from  ruin — Drs.  Todd  and  Bowman  on  this  point— Dr.  F.  B. 
Lees’  summary  of  the  effects  of  alcohol  on  digestion — The 
effects  of  alcohol  on  the  stomach  itself — Dr.  William  Beau- 
mont’s experiments  on  the  stomach  of  the  Canadian  hunter, 
St.  Martin — -General  summary  of  the  effects  of  alcohol  on 
digestion  and  the  stomach.  § 32.  Preliminary  comment  on 
the  effects  of  alcohol  on  the  blood.  § 33.  Remarks  on  the 
food  elements  in  alcoholic  drinks — The  Lancet  on  the 
nutritious  elements  in  wines — Special  consideration  of  malt 
liquors — -The  food  in  alcoholic  drinks  not  in  the  alcohol,  but 
in  the  residuals — Drs.  J.  W.  Beaumont  and  T.  L.  Brunton 
on  the  character  of  the  fat  in  the  system  of  malt-liquor 
drinkers — Why  Dr.  W.  A.  Hammond  regards  alcohol  as  a 
food — The  meaning  of  alcoholic  preservation  of  tissue. 
§ 34.  Special  consideration  of  the  action  of  alcohol  on  the 
blood — Dr.  C.  H.  Shulz  on  the  nature  of  alcoholic  degenera- 
tion of  the  blood — Dr.  Dumas,  the  physiologists  Bocker  and 
Virschow,  Dr.  Baer,  Prof.  Herman  and  Prof.  Dogiel  on  the 
same — The  effect  of  alcoholic  degeneration  of  the  blood  on 
the  nutrition  of  the  tissues — Dr.  Boker’s  experiments 
proving  that  alcohol,  by  retarding  oxidation,  tends  to  turn 
man’s  body  into  a preserved  compost.  § 35.  How  alcohol 
wastes  and  poisons  the  water  of  the  system — The  “drink- 
crave  ” a result  of  thirst — Dr.  Flint  on  this  point — The 
exactions  made  by  alcohol  upon  the  water  of  the  system — 
The  systemic  need  of  water  misunderstood  as  a need  for 
alcohol.  § 36.  Alcoholic  degeneration  of  the  blood-vessels 
— Dr.  James  Edmunds  on  this  point — Sir  James  Paget’s 
warning  to  his  disciples  against  surgical  operations  even 
on  moderate  drinkers.  § 37.  Theories  as  to  what  becomes 
of  alcohol  after  it  enters  the  blood  current,  by  Baron  Liebig, 
Drs.  L’Allemand,  Perrin,  and  Duroy,  Prof.  Bauer,  and  Drs. 

b 


xvm 


CONTENTS. 


Bouchardat  and  Sandi'as.  § 38.  The  difficulty  of  arriving 
at  definite  conclusions  on  this  point — A solution  possibly  to 
be  found  in  the  action  of  hydrolytic  ferments — Dr.  E.  G. 
Figg  on  the  presence  of  alcohol  in  the  breath — Dr.  James 
Hinton’s  Physiology  for  Practical  Use  on  the  same— Alcohol 
discovered  in  skin  evaporations — Drs.  E.  G.  Figg  and  T.  L. 
Brunton  on  this  point — Alcohol  found  in  the  urine — Drs. 
L’Allemand,  Perrin,  and  Duroy,  William  Beaumont,  John 
Percy,  E.  G.  Figg,  and  Herr  Kuyper  on  alcohol  in  the  brain. 

§ 39.  Effects  of  alcohol  on  the  temperature  of  the  body — 
Opinions  on  this  point  by  Drs.  Dumeril,  Dumarquay,  and 
Lecoint,  Drs.  Nasse,  Prout,  Davies,  and  Edward  Smith, 
Prof.  Binz  and  Drs.  Dujardin,  Beaumetz,  and  Audige — 
Practical  evidences  that  alcohol  reduces  the  temperature 
of  the  body — Plausible  theories  for  reconciling  the  fall  of 
bodily  temperature  with  the  Liebigian  combustion  theory. 
§ 40.  Alcohol  and  the  nervous  system — Physiology  of  the 
nervous  system — Dr.  James  Cantile  on  the  character  and 
functions  of  the  nervous  system — Parallel  physiological 
effects  of  alcohol  on  the  nervous  and  muscular  tissues — 
Alcohol  acts  directly  on  the  brain — Dr.  Baer  on  this  point 
— Possible  solution  of  the  riddle  why  alcohol  when  taken 
rapidly,  intoxicates  less  and  more  slowly  than  when 
gradually  taken,  by  sipping- — The  division  of  special  nerve- 
affectants  into  stimulants  and  narcotics — Conflicting  defini- 
tions of  these  terms  by  Dr.  A.  Billing,  Sir  J.  Forbes,  Drs. 
Headland,  T.  King  Chambers,  and  T.  L.  Brunton — Defini- 
tion of  stimulants  and  their  division  into  invigorators  and 
prostraters — Definition  of  narcotics,  and  their  division  into 
pseudo-stimulants  and  plain  narcotics — Further  explanation 
of  the  term  pseudo-stimulants — Alcohol  a narcotic  poison — 
Dr.  Thomas  Trotter,  in  1804,  speaks  of  the  medical  con- 
troversy as  to  whether  alcohol  is  a narcotic  or  stimulant — 
Prof.  Christison,  Drs.  Figg,  Anstie,  and  Edmunds  on  this 
point — The  twofold  narcotizing  action  of  alcohol  on  the 
brain  and  nerves — Alcohol’s  interference  with  the  powers 
of  co-ordination  and  temporary  abolition  of  sensation — Prof. 
John  Fiske  on  incipient  alcoholic  paralysis — Drs.  Nicol, 
Mossop,  and  E.  Smith  on  the  tendency  of  alcohol  to  paralyze 
vision — The  quality  of  the  brain  decides  the  quality  of 
its  communicating  powers — Dr.  J.  Crichton  Brown  on  this 
point — Alcohol  degrades  the  quality  of  brain  and  nerves — 
Dr.  Parkes  on  the  paralyzing  effect  of  alcohol  on  the  power 
of  transmitting  thought — Dr.  Howie  on  the  same — Dr. 
J.  J.  Ridge’s  experiments  with  minute  doses  of  alcohol, 
proving  its  paralyzing  effects  upon  feeling,  weight,  and 
vision — Dr.  Scougal,  in  confirmation  of  Dr.  Ridge,  adding 
that  the  sense  of  hearing  is  similarly  affected  by  alcohol. 
§ 41.  How  the  alcoholic  nerve-degradation  assists  in  pro- 
ducing the  drink-crave — Dr.  Anstie  and  Prof.  Fiske  on  this 


CONTENTS. 


XIX 


point — general  practical  conclusions  as  to  the  narcotic  re- 
sults from  the  use  of  alcohol.  § 42.  Dr.  E.  G.  Figg  on  the 
injurious  effects  of  alcohol  when  used  as  a mental  stimulant 
— Sir  Andrew  Clark  on  the  same — Mr.  A.  Arthur  Reade’s 
summary  from  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  letters  on  this 
point — The  Rev.  Stopford  A.  Brooke’s  testimony  on  this 
point.  § 43.  Proofs  and  opinions  for  the  statement  that 
alcohol  reduces  the  capacity  for  physical  labour — Drs. 
Beddoes  and  Donders,  Baron  Leibig,  and  Drs.  Parkes  and 
Wollowicz  on  this  point.  § 44.  General  summary  of  the 
physiological  results  of  the  use  of  alcohol  ...  ...  57 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PATHOLOGICAL  RESULTS;  OR,  DISEASES  CAUSED  BY  ALCOHOL. 

§ 45.  Definitions  of  the  terms  disease  and  health — Dr.  Huss, 
the  originator  of  the  term  alcoholism,  and  its  division  into 
acute  and  chronic.  § 46.  Meaning  of  the  term  chronic 
alcoholism — The  general  scope  of  alcoholism — Prof.  Chris- 
tison  on  general  diseases  due  to  the  use  of  alcohol — Dr. 
Murchison  on  continued  fevers,  and  on  functional  diseases  of 
the  liver — Mr.  Startin  on  skin  diseases — Dr.  Norman  Kerr 
on  alcohol  as  a cause  of  erysipelas — Sir  William  Temple, 

Dr.  Erasmus  Darwin,  and  Dr.  Garrod  on  gout — Dr.  Drys- 
dale  on  beer  and  gout — Testimony  of  Bromley  Davenport, 

M.P. — Dr.  B.  W.  Richardson’s  summary  of  the  functional 
diseases  and  organic  diseases  from  alcohol — Prof.  Kraft- 
Ebing  on  alcoholic  tremor — The  Scientific  American  on 
general  diseases  resulting  from  beer.  § 47.  Dr.  Huss  on 
acute  alcoholism — Prof.  Kraft-Ebing  on  the  analogy  of 
acute  alcoholic  intoxication  with  insanity — Dr.  Mason  on 
alcoholic  insanity — Mania.a-potu  ; characteristics,  ex- 
amples— Delirium  tremens,  its  symptoms  and  general 
characteristics — Dr.  Maudsley’s  description  of  delirium 
tremens — Prof.  Kraft-Ebing  on  crimes  committed  under 
alcoholic  hallucinations— -Dr.  Mason  on  alcoholic  epilepti- 
form mania,  on  chronic  alcoholic  mania;  on  chronic 
alcoholic  melancholia  and  its  painful  delusions — Conclusions  127 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MORAL  RESULTS. 

§ 48.  Inquiry  into  the  relations  between  drink  and  crime — 
Erroneous  inferences  of  a writer  in  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette 
on  this  point — Relations  between  sobriety  and  crime  as 
contrasted  with  those  between  drink  and  crime — Examples 


XX 


CONTENTS. 


of  unintentional  alcoholic  criminality — The  kind  of  drink 
used  and  the  temperament  and  the  circumstances  of  the 
drinker  largely  determine  the  character  of  the  manifesta- 
tions of  drunkenness — The  true  field  of  direct  alcoholic 
criminal  activity.  § 49.  General  summary  of  physiological 
and  mental  results — Dr.  Christoph.  Wilhelm  Huf eland  on 
the  difficulty  of  eradicating  the  drinking  habit — Fable  of 
the  drunken  man  and  sober  pig — Physical  and  moral 
effects  parallel — Notable  exception  to  this  rule — Charles 
Lamb’s  pathetic  warning.  § 50.  The  effect  of  alcoholism 
on  the  will — Difference  between  will  and  intention — 
Instance  of  the  power  of  drink  to  annihilate  the  will — 

Moral  insolvency  of  the  drinker  in  the  various  relations 
and  responsibilities  of  life : as  son,  citizen,  neighbour, 
friend,  husband,  and  father — Home  of  the  drunken  wife 
and  mother  as  contrasted  with  the  same  home  when  the 
husband  is  the  drunkard,  and  the  wife  and  mother  bears 
her  burdens  in  patience  and  sobriety.  § 51.  The  effect  of 
alcohol  in  producing  gradual  weakening  and  final  destruc- 
tion of  character — Clever  disguises  assumed  by  the  alcohol- 
ized will : in  political  life,  for  example — How  alcoholism 
spoils  the  relations  between  master  and  working  man  and 
the  general  relations  of  life — Gradations  produced  by 
alcoholism : first  moral  unreliability,  then  turpitude  and 
crime — The  forger,  the  burglar,  the  murderer — The  negative 
loss  of  will — The  positive  loss  of  will — Rev.  Dr.  W.  E. 
Channing  on  the  difference  between  poverty  with  and  with- 
out drink — The  foundation  of  human  happiness,  worth,  and 
progress — Drink  the  deadly  enemy  of  these — Drink  tends, 
however  unequally,  slowly,  insidiously,  and  with  whatever 
delay  of  apparent  signs,  to  undermine  and  destroy  will, 
moral  perception,  conscience,  affection,  self-respect,  and 
regard  for  others  in  whomsoever  forms  this  evil  habit  . . . 152 


CHAPTER  YIII. 

HEREDITY ; OR,  THE  CURSE  ENTAILED  ON  DESCENDANTS  BY  ALCOHOL. 

§ 52.  The  laws  of  generation  a protection  to  the  race — The 
responsibility  of  parentage — Drs.  Marc  Lorin,  Bourgeois,  and 
Figg  on  the  general  laws  of  heredity — The  scope  of  hereditary 
effects.  § 53.  Various  authorities  on  alcoholic  heredity — 

Dr.  E.  Darwin,  Rev.  Edward  Barry,  Dr.  Rosch,  Dr.  Morel, 

Dr.  Figg,  Dr.  Lanceraux,  Dr.  Maudsley,  Prof.  Jaccoud,  Dr. 

Baer,  Dr.  Gendson,  and  Dr.  Kerr — Dr.  Lewis  D.  Mason  on 
hereditary  drink-crave — Prof.  Kraft-Ebing  on  hereditary 
alcoholic  diseases  and  final  extinction  of  family  ...  171 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THERAPEUTICS  ; OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 

§ 54  A sixteenth-century  opinion  of  alcohol  as  a medicine. 

§ 55.  Dr.  Norman  Kerr  on  the  “ Medical  History  of  the 
Temperance  Movement” — Dr.  Higginbottom  on  the  advan- 
tages of  total  abstinence  as  a prescription — The  first  anti- 
alcohol Medical  Declaration  of  1839,  drawn  up  by  Dr. 
Julius  Jeffreys — Second  anti-alcohol  Medical  Declaration 
of  1847,  by  Mr.  John  Dunlop — Third  anti-alcohol  Medical 
Declaration  of  1871,  by  Dr.  E.  A.  Parkes— Establishment 
of  the  Quarterly  Medical  Temperance  Journal,  in  1869 — 
The  British  Medical  Journal  concerning  alcohol  as  a 
medicine,  Sept.,  1871 — Dr.  McMurtry’s  eloquent  appeal  to 
the  medical  profession,  in  the  Medical  Temperance  Journal, 
dot.,  1871 — Origin  of  the  third  British  Medical  Declaration 
— Opinions  expressed  by  the  Times,  Lancet,  and  Pall  Mall 
Gazette  on  the  importance  of  this  document — Wording  of 
the  third  Medical  Declaration — General  effect  produced  by 
it  on  the  public  mind — Medical  opinions  evoked  by  its 
publication  : Dr.  Henry  Monroe,  Dr.  J.  J.  Ritchie,  and  Dr. 
Higginbottom — Address  to  Mr.  Robert  Rae  in  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  great  services  in  the  cause  of  temperance 
reform,  and  of  the  important  part  taken  by  him  in  getting 
this  declaration  before  the  public.  § 56.  Dr.  Charles 
Hare  on  the  decline  in  the  use  of  alcohol  as  a medicine 
since  1872.  § 57.  Former  and  present  opinions  on  the  use 

of  alcohol  as  a medicine — Points  regarding  alcoholic  pre- 
scriptions and  their  preparations — Principal  therapeutic 
uses  of  alcohol : as  a stimulant,  as  a narcotic,  as  an  anti- 
spasmodic  (Dr.  Edmunds  on  this  point),  as  an  anti-septic, 
and  as  an  anti-pyretic — Dr.  S.  C.  Smith  on  the  comparative 
worthlessness  of  anti-septics — The  Rev.  Dr.  Hancock  on 
water  treatment  in  fevers — Dr.  Billing  on  water  treatment 
in  typhus  fever — Dr.  Thomas  Beaumont  on  the  same — Dr. 
William  Cayley  on  the  merits  of  cold-bath  treatment  in 
typhoid  fever  in  Germany  and  Prance — Dr.  A.  T.  Myers 
on  the  great  mortality  from  typhoid  fever  at  St.  George’s 
Hospital  (1877-1883)  under  alcoholic  treatment — The 
British  Medical  Journal’s  (March  1,  1884)  summary  of  the 
cold-bath  treatment  discussions,  before  the  London  Medical 
Society — The  exclusion  of  alcohol  from  the  Dosemetric 
therapeutics.  § 58.  Dr.  Nicolls’  report  on  the  results  of 
sixteen  years’  non-alcoholic  treatment  of  diseases  in  the 
Longford  Poor  Law  Union — Origin,  foundation,  and  work 
of  the  London  Temperance  Hospital — Dr.  Edmunds’  state- 
ment, including  table,  regarding  the  character  of  the  non- 
alcoholic treatment  of  disease  in  this  hospital.  § 59.  The 


XXII 


CONTENTS. 


effects  of  the  use  of  alcohol  on  mothers  and  their  offspring 
— Dr.  Thomas  Trotter  and  Sir  Anthony  Carlisle  on  this 
point — Drs.  Rosch  and  Grindrod  on  the  evils  of  the  use  of 
alcohol  during  lactation — Drs.  E.  G.  Figg  and  E.  Smith  on 
the  hurtful  effects  of  the  use  of  alcohol  during  pregnancy 
and  lactation — Dr.  Edmunds  on  the  diet  of  nursing  mothers, 
and  on  the  special  effects  of  beer-drinking  during  lactation 
Dr.  Harrison  Branthwaite  on  infant  mortality  from  the  use 
of  ale  and  stout  during  lactation — Dr.  J.  C.  Reid’s  warning 
against  alcoholic  prescription  ...  ...  ...  181 


CHAPTER  X. 

SOCIAL  RESULTS  ; OR,  THE  GENERAL  EFFECTS  ON  SOCIETT 
CAUSED  BY  ALCOHOL. 

§ 60.  General  value  of  statistics.  § 61.  Inconsistency  of  the 
attitude  of  Parliament  toward  the  drink-question.  § 62. 
Various  weighty  opinions  on  the  destructive  effects  of 
alcohol  upon  society  : Buffon,  the  Rev.  H.  W.  Beecher,  the 
Times,  Dr.  Germain  Marty,  Mr.  W.  E.  Gladstone — Opinions  of 
the  judges  of  the  United  Kingdom  : Mr.  M.  O’Shaughnessy, 
Mr.  Justice  Grove,  Mr.  Justice  Fitzgerald,  Baron  Dowse, 
Mr.  Raffles  (Stipendiary  Magistrate  of  Liverpool),  Lord 
Chief  Justice  Coleridge,  Mr.  Justice  Denman,  Baron 
Huddleston,  and  Mr.  Justice  Hawkins.  § 63.  Mr.  William 
Hoyle’s  drink  statistics — The  Rev.  Dawson  Bums  on  the 
annual  expenditure  in  drink  as  compared  with  other 
expenditure  in  Great  Britain — Mr.  Stephen  Bourne  on 
the  same  from  an  opposite  point  of  view — Mr.  Hoyle’s 
“ Drink  Traffic  and  its  Evils  ” — Mr.  Hoyle’s  table  “ show- 
ing the  Population,  Total  Cost  and  Average  Cost  per  Head 
of  Intoxicating  Liquors  in  the  United  Kingdom  for  various 
years  from  1820  to  1870,  and  for  each  subsequent  year  up 
to  1882  ” — Statements  by  Sir  William  Collins  and  ex- 
Bailie  Lewis  to  the  Scotch  Temperance  Convention,  March 
3,  1884,  regarding  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Glasgow, 
due  to  drink — The  relations  between  drink  and  poverty — 
Dr.  Dawson  Burns  on  drinking  as  the  mainspring  of 
pauperism.  § 64.  Parliamentary  report  in  1834,  on  in- 
temperance— Reports  of  Drs.  Parkes  and  Sanderson,  state- 
ment by  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson,  address  by  Lord  Derby,  by  Mr. 
Edward  Jones  of  the  Toxteth  Board  of  Guardians,  and  by 
the  Rev.  John  Kirk,  on  the  relations  between  drink  and 
poverty — Testimony  of  Mr.  William  Hoyle,  Miss  Mary 
Bayley,  Mr.  George  R.  Sims,  and  Mr.  Caine,  M.P.,  on  this 
point — Canon  Farrar’s  sermon  on  drink,  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  Nov.  19,  1883 — George  R.  Sims  on  Horrible  London 


CONTENTS. 


xxiii 


— The  “Dastman’s”  speech  in  Exeter  Hall,  Nov.  21,  1883 
— Condition  of  the  children  of  drunkards — Comparison 
between  the  revenue  returns  from  drink  in  prosperous  and 
unprosperous  years — Address  by  Cardinal  Manning — Im- 
portant evidence  of  Charles  Saunders  before  the  parlia- 
mentary committee  on  drink,  in  1834 — Report  of  the  special 
sanitary  commissioner  of  the  Lancet,  in  1872 — Practical 
conclusions — The  Daily  Telegraph  (Oct.  25,  1883)  on  Why 
should  London  wait  ? — -The  Bitter  cry  of  Outcast  London. 

§ 65.  Mortality  from  drink — Statement  by  Coroner  Wakley 
in  1839 — Testimony  of  Dr.  Norman  Kerr — Report  of  the 
Harveian  Society — Sir  ffm.  Gull  on  alcoholic  infanticide — 
Mortality  among  liquor-dealers ; statements  on  this  point  by 
Dr.  Kerr  and  Mr.  DavidLewis — Notice  concerning  publicans, 
issued  by  the  General  Assurance  Office  in  1881 — Statement 
of  Dr.  Edmunds — Relative  longevity  of  drinkers  and 
abstainers,  as  furnished  by  the  United  Kingdom  Temper- 
ance and  General  Provident  Institution  for  Mutual  Life 
Insurance — Statement  of  Mr.  W.  B.  Robinson,  chief  con- 
structor R.N.,  concerning  the  “ value  of  life  being  increased 
by  taking  no  intoxicating  drinks.”  § 66.  Schlegel  on 
drink  as  a cause  of  insanity  and  suicide — Dr.  Ganghofner’s 
estimate  of  alcoholic  insanity  in  America,  England,  and 
Holland — Dr.  Lockhart  Robertson’s  computation  for 
England  and  Germany — House  of  Commons  report  for  from 
1865  to  1875 — Mr.  Hoyle  on  alcoholic  insanity  in  England 
and  Wales — Last  report  of  the  commissioners  of  lunacy — ■ 
Dr.  Shepherd’s  statement — Statements  by  Earl  Shaftesbury 
and  Dr.  Gilchrist  before  the  Lunacy  Commission  of  1877 — - 
Mr.  Hoyle  on  the  increase  of  alcoholic  lunacy  in  England 
and  Wales— Dr.  T.  S.  Cleriston  and  W.  J.  Corbet,  M.P.,  on 
the  same — Sanger  on  alcohol  as  a cause  of  prostitution — 
Summary  of  the  report  on  drink  laid  before  the  Belgian 
Chambers  by  Frere-Orban  in  1868.  § 67.  Dr.  Edward 

Young  on  the  annual  drink  bill  of  the  United  States — Mr. 
Powell,  of  New  York,  on  the  liquor  industry  of  the  United 
States — The  New  York  Temperance  Advocate  on  the  liquor 
revenue  of  the  United  States  (1863-1882) — London  Even- 
ing Standard  on  liquor  consumption  in  the  United  States — 
The  New  York  Herald  on  the  number  of  liquor-shops  in 
New  York  city,  in  1883 — Dr.  Howard  Crosby  on  this  point 
— The  condition  of  Birmingham  in  this  respect;  evidence 
of  Mr.  J.  Chamberlain,  M.P.,  before  the  Lords’  Committee 
on  Intemperance  in  1879 — The  Pall  Mall  Gazette  on  the 
number  of  public-houses  in  proportion  to  the  population  of 
the  various  states  of  the  union — Drs.  Lee,  Wilkins,  and 
Mason  on  alcoholic  insanity  in  the  United  States — Dr. 
Mann,  of  New  York,  on  general  alcoholic  insanity — Maxime 
du  Camp  on  the  drink  petrolomania  in  Paris  during  the 
siege — Dr.  Baer  on  the  deterioration  in  the  French  army 


XXIV 


CONTENTS. 


caused  by  drink — Dr.  E.  Lanceraux  on  alcoholism  and 
decrease  in  population — Dr.  Baer  on  alcohol  and  insanity 
in  Prussia — Dr.  Finkelburg  of  the  Russian  Health  Com- 
mission on  alcohol,  insanity,  and  crime  in  Russia 


CHAPTER  XI. 

ORIGIN  AND  CAUSES  OR  ALCOHOLISM. 

§ 68.  Drs.  Baer  and  E.  G.  Figg  on  the  existence  of  races  (some 
of  them  only  recently  extinct)  who  knew  nothing  of  in- 
toxicants— Origin  of  the  mischief.  § 69.  Likeness  between 
the  development  of  the  race  and  the  individual — The  in- 
dividual searches  for  happiness — The  race  searches  for 
happiness — Both  mistake  the  ignis  fatuus  for  the  Star — 
First  gropings  towards  knowledge  by  means  of  the  senses 
— Alcohol  believed  to  be  a great  agent  for  producing  happi- 
ness— Natural  appetites  and  passions  changed  into  un- 
natural lusts  by  the  abnormal  development  of  the  senses 
— Spiritual  and  mental  progress  under  these  conditions — 
The  two  great  factions  into  which  this  development  has 
divided  mankind  ; the  graspers  who  succeed,  the  graspers 
who  fail — Alcohol  a paramount  agent  in  restricting  man 
to  life  in  the  world  of  the  senses — The  Rev.  Dr.  Crane  on 
the  Arts  of  Intoxication — True  exaltation  counterfeited  by 
the  fleeting  excitement  of  alcohol — Self-deception  has 
made  man  miss  happiness  all  round ; in  religion,  in  science 
. — Hlustration  of  this — What  happiness  is,  and  how  it  can 
be  found.  § 70.  Supplementary  causes  explaining  the 
power  alcohol  has  obtained  over  mankind — The  effect  of 
high  living  and  smoking  in  vitiating  taste,  smell,  and 
digestion,  and  thereby  provoking  a desire  for  strong  drink 
— The  force  of  example  because  of  the  sympathetic  unity 
of  the  race — Plutarch  on  the  force  of  association — Thomas 
Tryon  on  the  force  of  example  upon  children — T.  Campbell 
on  the  influence  and  effects  of  habitual  intercourse  in 
daily  life — The  force  of  habit  because  of  natural  laws  : 
conscious  and  openly  acknowledged  effects — Mr.  Spurgeon 
on  the  responsibility  of  parents  in  the  matter  of  drink — 
We  never  see  our  own  personal  danger — Dr.  Wm.  Ellery 
Channing  on  the  responsibility  of  the  wealthy  classes  toward 
the  poor  in  the  question  of  abstinence — The  force  of 
hereditary  habit — Soren  Kirkegaard  on  the  force  of  evil 
habit — The  force  of  habit  become  instinct — Difficulty  for 
the  race  as  for  the  individual  to  break  the  chains  of  habit 
— Difficulty  of  ad  justing  our  social  relations  in  harmony  with 
onr  personal  convictions — The  great  responsibility  resting 
with  the  throne  in  this  respect — The  Canterbury  Convoca- 


PACE 

226 


CONTENTS. 


XXV 


tions  (1883)  on  the  use  of  wine  in  the  Lord’s  Supper — Mr. 
John  Sebright  on  instinct — Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  and  Mr. 
Shirley  Hibberd  on  the  same — Prof.  J.  J.  Romanes  on  the 
force  of  habit-formed  instinct  becoming  nature  in  a 
depraved  sense.  § 71.  History  waiting  to  say  something 
new 


CHAPTER  XII. 

SPECIOUS  REASONINGS  CONCERNING  TEE  USE  OF  ALCOHOL. 

§ 72.  Similarity  of  process  in  body-poisoning  and  mind-poison- 
ing— The  danger  of  half-truths — The  two  conditions  in 
which  man  will  admit  that  evil  is  evil — Hyper-sensitive 
individuality  a great  obstacle  in  the  way  of  personal 
reform — The  necessity  of  convincing  the  masses,  the  self- 
deceived  as  well  as  the  honest  searchers  and  the  ignorant 
— The  great  need  of  general  and  positive  knowledge  on 
the  subject.  § 73.  The  fallacy  of  the  boast  that  the  virility 
of  the  English  nation  proves  the  comparative  harmlessness 
of  drink — Brief  epitome  of  England’s  drink  history — 
Bergenroth  on  the  attitude  of  the  English  court  concerning 
water-drinking  in  1498 — Citation  from  Camden’s  Annals, 
1581 — Dr.  William  Bullein,  in  speaking  of  the  evils  of  drink 
in  1595,  makes  no  mention  of  distilled  liquors — Citation 
from  the  Compleat  Gentleman  (1622)  ; from  Tryon’s  Way 
to  Health,  Long  Life,  and  Happiness  (1683) — Hard  drinking 
not  common  in  England  until  the  seventeenth  century — 
Citation  from  De  Foe’s  Poor  Man’s  Plea;  from  Sir  John 
Harrington’s  Hugos  Antiques;  from  Bishop  Benson  in 
Lecky’s  History  of  England  (1878) — The  Rev.  Dr.  Dawson 
Burns  on  the  specious  arguments  used  to  prove  that  the 
commission  of  crime  in  so-called  sober  countries,  justifies 
the  assumption  that  drink  is  not  at  the  bottom  of  most  of 
the  crime  committed  in  Great  Britain.  § 74.  Habitual 
drunkenness  universally  condemned — Moderate  drinking 
the  nucleus  of  dispute — No  fixed  standard  of  moderation 
possible — Dr.  John  Cheyne  on  this  point — Fourteen  glasses 
of  wine  daily,  the  moderation  limit  of  a German  temper- 
ance society  in  the  sixteenth  century — In  our  day  modera- 
tion entirely  optional — The  elasticity  of  the  term  as  seen 
in  its  usual  definitions — The  Lancet  on  publicans,  and 
specious  reasoning  about  moderation — The  practical  worth- 
lessness of  the  plea  of  moderation — Dr.  Grindrod  ( Bacchus , 
1839)  on  moderate  drinking  as  the  preparatory  stage  of 
drunkenness — Dr.  J.  Baxter  on  moderate  drinking — Drs. 
Copland,  Garnett,  James  Johnson,  Macrorie,  Gordon,  Sewall, 
Sir  Henry  Thompson,  Sir  William  Gull,  and  Dr.  W.  B. 


PAGE 


283 


XXVI 


CONTENTS. 


Carpenter  on  the  same  — The  late  Samuel  Bowly  on 
moderation  versus  total  abstinence — A valuable  suggestion 
by  Mr.  C.  Kegan  Paul — The  deceptive  character  of  the 
relief  attributed  to  the  moderate  use  of  alcohol  in  cases  of 
exhaustion  from  labour.  § 76.  Dr.  R.  B.  Grindrod  on  the 
effects  produced  by  moderate  drinking  upon  temper  and 
judgment — Dr.  Baer  on  the  effects  produced  on  mental 
processes  by  alcohol — Dr.  Hewitt  on  the  character  of 
moderate  drinking  among  the  French — The  moral  respon- 
sibility of  the  moderate  drinker — The  Rev.  Stopford  A. 
Brooke  on  this  point — The  Rev.  James  Smith  in  refuta- 
tion of  the  argument  that  moderation  is  better  than  absti- 
nence— C.  Kegan  Paul  on  the  same  point — Charles  Lamb’s 
warning  appeal  to  young  men.  § 77.  Dr.  Howard  Crosby’s 
objections  to  the  temperance  pledge,  and  Mr.  Wendell 
Phillips’  reply.  § 78.  The  fallacy  of  positive  deductions 
in  arguing  the  general  from  the  exceptional — Examples — 

The  meaning  of  the  plea  for  longevity  ...  ...  305 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 

§ 79.  Why  past  temperance  efforts  failed — Their  character — 
Early  moderation  societies — Special  reasons  for  their 
failure — Characteristics  of  the  modem  temperance  move- 
ment the  basis  for  hope  of  permanent  reform — Initiation 
of  the  present  popular  temperance  movement ; how  it  pro- 
gressed, collapsed,  and  revived.  § 80.  Summary  of  the 
character  and  extent  of  the  powers  and  obligations  of  the 
British  Government  in  internal  reforms — The  sovereign 
power  and  hence  responsibility  of  the  masses — The  people 
responsible  for  the  morality  of  Parliament  and  Government, 
not  the  Government  for  that  of  the  people.  § 81.  Dangers 
attending  political  agitation  on  moral  issues — The  para- 
mount importance  of  sobriety  for  the  protection  of  national 
independence — The  battle  of  Hastings  lost  through  drink 
— The  Echo  on  drunkenness  in  the  army — Lord  Wolseley 
on  the  army  and  drink — Cardinal  Manning  on  the  same — 
Major-General  Sir  Evelyn  Wood  in  confirmation  of  Cardinal 
Manning’s  statement.  § 82.  Mischiefs  that  have  resulted 
from  prematurely  driving  the  liquor-dealers  into  self- 
defence  unions,  by  indiscriminate  political  agitation  for 
prohibition — The  earliest  moment  when  prohibition  can 
become  a practical  and  beneficent  fact — The  hopeful  omen 
of  the  Queen’s  speech  opening  Parliament,  1884.  § 83. 

Various  preparatory  measures  for  general  prohibition — 
Local  option  : Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson’s  scheme — The  local 


CONTENTS. 


XXV 


option  resolution  of  the  great  temperance  meeting  in  Edin. 
burgh,  March  3,  1884 — The  attitude  of  the  Government 
toward  it — The  question  of  compensation  to  the  publicans 
— The  publican’s  side  of  the  question — The  public’s  side  of 
the  question — A hint  to  licensed  victuallers  how  to  pre- 
pare themselves  and  their  houses  for  the  inevitable — 
Scheme  for  reconciling  the  conflicting  interests  involved  in 
prohibition  with  due  regard  to  health,  morality,  and 
revenue.  § 84.  The  paramount  duty  of  the  Government 
regarding  exportation  of  liquor,  and  particularly  in  case  of 
internal  prohibition — Mr.  Robert  Rae  on  this  point — Cete- 
wayo’s  remonstrances  with  England — The  liquor  treaties 
with  Siam  and  Madagascar  in  1883.  § 85.  National  slavery 
under  the  liquor  revenue — Brief  summary  of  the  history  of 
licensing — The  Grocers’  Licence  Act ; the  Saturday  Review, 
the  Practitioner,  the  Spectator,  the  Alliance  News,  and  the 
Lancet  on  the  various  evil  results  of  this  Act — The  attitude 
of  the,  Church  of  England  Temperance  Society  toward  it  ; 
Canon  Leigh’s  advice  to  the  Women’s  Union  to  boy  cott  liquor- 
selling grocers — The  Temperance  Record  on  the  increasing 
intemperance  among  women  as  being  largely  due  to  the 
Grocers’  Licence  Act — Mr.  George  R.  Sims  on  the  social 
effects  of  the  grocers’  licences — The  most  pressing  reason 
for  the  repeal  of  the  grocers’ licences.  §86.  Various  lesser 
legislative  measures ; restriction  of  the  power  of  renewing 
licences ; low  windows  compulsory  for  public-houses ; pro- 
hibition of  the  employment  of  women  as  bar-tenders — 
Public  conveyances  should  neither  bear  the  names  of,  nor 
have  their  stations  at,  public-houses — Canon  Ellison  on 
juvenile  intemperance  in  Liverpool  and  Manchester — In- 
stances of  juvenile  intemperance  cited  by  the  Daily  News, 
December,  1883 ; by  the  Globe — Imprisonment  a proper 
penalty  for  the  crime  of  selling  or  giving  drink  to  children 
— The  Lancet’s  opinion  on  this  point — Early  habits  and 
home  example  largely  responsible  for  the  prevalence  of 
this  vice  among  adults.  § 87.  Sir  William  Armstrong  on 
prohibition  of  the  propagation  of  vice  and  poverty.  § 88. 
Dr.  Norman  Kerr  and  the  Dalrymple  Home — Dr.  Thomas 
Hawksley  on  the  cure  of  habitual  drunkards — The  Lam- 
beth Board  of  Guardians  on  the  necessity  of  reform  in  the 
Habitual  Drunkards’  Act.  § 89.  The  need  of  international 
relations  in  view  of  thorough  drink  legislation — The  need 
of  international  agreement  for  the  general  suppression  of 
liquor  traffic  on  the  seas.  § 90.  Need  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a permanent  national  commission  of  inquiry  into 
the  whole  question  of  alcohol  and  man.  § 91.  The  origin 
and  establishment  of  temperance  coffee -taverns  in  England 
— Their  character  and  usefulness — The  prominent  part 
taken  by  Mrs.  George  Bayly  in  this  movement — Reasons 
for  the  poor  results  of  the  coffee-taverns  in  London — The 


XXV111 


CONTENTS. 


Daily  Chronicle  on  the  mismanagement  of  these  establish- 
ments— Suggestion  for  merging  the  coffee-tavern  project 
into  that  of  the  steam-kitchen — first  efforts  and  progress  of 
the  steam-kitchen  movement  on  the  Continent — Mrs.  Lina 
Morgenstern’s  steam-kitchen  in  Berlin — Mr.  L.  O.  Smith’s 
steam-kitchen  in  Stockholm,  and  his  own  account  of  their 
importance  and  work.  § 92.  Pure  water  the  greatest 
essential  for  life  and  health — Mr.  Thomas  Tryon  on  water, 
1697 — -Dr.  George  Cheyne  on  the  same,  1725 — Water 
ordinance  in  Antwerp — The  agitation  for  pure  water  supply 
in  London  during  the  last  twenty-five  years — A writer  in 
the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  on  the  present  quality  of  the  water 
supply  in  London — The  New  York  Medical  Record  on  water 
for  infants — Dr.  James  Wilson  on  the  therapeutic  proper- 
ties of  water — The  Lancet  on  water-drinking — Dr.  Plohn’s 
bibliography  on  water  in  Dr.  Ziemssen’sHandbookofGeneral 
Therapeutics — Interesting  testimony  of  Dr.  Morel  to  the 
recuperative  power  of  natural  functions  when  perversions 
of  them  are  desisted  from.  § 93.  Importance  of  instruct- 
ing children  to  understand  their  own  bodies,  especially  in 
regard  to  the  harm  alcohol  does  to  them — Testimony  of  the 
Lord  Bishop  of  Exeter ; of  the  Eev.  Dr.  Adamson,  of  the 
Edinburgh  School  Board — Why  the  popular  education 
system  is  poor — Leon  Dounat’s  estimates  of  the  relative 
amounts  expended  on  education  and  war  by  the  European 
powers — Ex-Bailie  Lewis  on  the  inadequacy  of  the  Com- 
pulsory Education  Act,  and  of  sanitary  agencies  to  uproot 
or  essentially  diminish  the  vice  and  misery  produced  by 
the  public-house — Dr.  Channing’s definition  of  education; 
his  views  on  the  true  use  of  wealth — Temperance  teachings 
in  the  schools  of  Massachusetts,  1872 — Labours  of  the 
National  Temperance  League  for  the  spread  of  temperance 
education — Cardinal  Manning’s  order  for  the  establishment 
of  branches  of  the  Catholic  Total  Abstinence  League  in 
every  Catholic  school  in  the  Archdiocese  of  Westminster — 
Efforts  to  establish  temperance  education  in  German 
schools,  and  in  the  schools  of  Canada,  Australia,  and  the 
United  States — The  school  savings-bank  system  in  Sweden 
— Poverty  the  worst  enemy  of  popular  education,  and 
drink  the  chief  cause  of  poverty — Statement  by  Mr.  E.  N. 
Buxton,  chairman  of  the  London  school  board — Statement 
by  the  Bight  Hon.  Mr.  Mundella  on  drink  in  its  bearing 
upon  education — Poverty  will  never  yield  until  drink  is 
removed — Mr.  Gladstone  on  poverty,  House  of  Commons, 
1843 — Lord  Salisbury’s  suggestions  for  the  alleviation  of 
poverty,  National  Review,  November,  1883 — Mr.  Cham- 
berlain on  the  same  topic,  Fortnightly  Review,  December, 
1883 — Dangers  from  supplanting  moral  impetus  by  mere 
political  agitation — Earl  Shaftesbury  on  the  mischief  of 
State  aid,  Nineteenth  Century,  December,  18S3 — Earl 


CONTENTS. 


XXIX 


Shaftesbury’s  statement  that  “ it  is  impossible,  absolutely 
impossible,  to  do  anything  to  permanently  or  considerably 
relieve  poverty  until  we  have  got  rid  of  the  curse  of  drink” 

■ — A working  man’s  letter  suggesting  the  establishment  of 
a Government  Labour  Registry  Office,  Daily  News,  Decem- 
ber, 1883 — Sober  working  men’s  relief  banks — Mr.  Francis 
Peek  on  the  responsibility  of  the  rich  in  the  question  of 
poverty  and  drink — Mr.  Henry  George’s  scheme  of  land 
nationalization  as  a cure  for  poverty — Neither  time,  con- 
ditions, nor  people  prepared  for  it — The  foundation  of  any 
individual  or  national  regeneration  must  be  laid  in  temper- 
ance— Suggestions  as  to  what  might  be  expected  supposing 
land  nationalization  should  be  accomplished  without  tem- 
perance reform — Evening  Standard’s  account  of  the  scenes 
on  Brighton  beach  after  the  wreck  of  the  Simla — Similar 
scenes  following  the  rescue  of  the  cargo  of  the  wrecked 
Royal  Adelaide — Mr.  Joseph  Cowen  on  the  paramount  im- 
portance of  sobriety.  § 94.  Dr.  Channing  on  the  reform- 
ing power  of  innocent  pleasures  and  amusements — The 
power  and  province  of  the  stage  in  this  direction — The 
moral  and  refining  influence  of  the  Princess’s  Theatre  under 
the  management  of  Mr.  Wilson  Barrett — The  late  Duke 
of  Albany  on  the  duty  of  the  rich  in  providing  pleasure  for 
the  poor — The  Newcastle  Chronicle  on  the  provision  of 
amusements  as  a check  on  drink  and  crime.  § 95.  The 
great  responsibility  resting  upon  magistrates,  physicians, 
and  the  clergy  in  regard  to  the  drink  evil — The  responsi- 
bility of  the  Church  in  regard  to  the  drink  evil — Origin 
and  growth  of  the  Church  of  England  temperance  move- 
ment— Appeal  to  the  Lords’  Committee  of  1880  by  Canon 
Henry  J.  Ellison,  for  effective  legislation  in  favour  of  tem- 
perance— Archbishop  Benson’s  position  regarding  temper- 
ance reform — Purposes  and  mission  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land Temperance  Society — The  Bishop  of  Carlisle  on  the 
success  of  the  labours  of  this  society,  St.  James’  Hall, 
November  20,  1883 — Canon  Basil  Wilberforce  in  denuncia- 
tion of  Church  proprietorship  in  public-houses — Practical 
expression  by  the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners  of  their 
interest  in  the  promotion  of  temperance  and  education, 
Temperance  Record,  November  8, 1883 — The  question  of  the 
use  of  wine  in  the  Lord’s  Supper — Decision  of  the  Upper 
House  in  the  Convocations  of  Canterbury,  July,  1883 — 
Modern  discoveries,  as  to  the  nature  and  effects  of  alcohol, 
leave  the  conscientious  clergyman  no  alternative — The 
Rev.  Moses  Stewart  on  total  abstinence  as  a qualification 
for  Church  membership — The  Rev.  B.  Parsons  on  the  con- 
stant risks  incurred  by  attendance  at  the  Lord’s  Supper — 
Mr.  E.  C.  Delevan  on  the  use  of  wine  in  the  Communion — 
Archdeacon  Jeffreys,  of  Bombay,  on  the  same — The  Lord 
Bishop  of  Exeter  and  Canon  Wilberforce  on  the  same ; 


XXX 


CONTENTS. 


various  important  considerations  involved  in  this  question. 
§ 96.  Dr.  Channing  on  drink  customs — The  origin  and  age 
of  the  drink  customs — Strutt  on  the  same — The  Queen’s 
opposition  to  the  social  bondage  of  the  drink  customs ; her 
insight  into  the  national  dangers  from  drink,  and  her  sym- 
pathy with  temperance  reform — The  interest  manifested 
by  the  Prince  of  Wales  in  the  temperance  reform — The 
interest  shown  by  the  late  Duke  of  Albany  in  the  condition 
of  the  poor  and  in  temperance  reform — The  practical  in- 
auguration of  drinking  toasts  in  water,  by  the  Metropolitan 
Board  of  Works,  1883 — Toasts  drunk  in  unfermented  wines 
at  the  inauguration  luncheon  of  the  Society  for  the  Study 
and  Cure  of  Inebriety,  April  25,  1884 — Prince  Puckler  on 
the  absurdities  of  the  drink  customs — The  Bev.  B.  Parsons 
on  the  same ; a working  man  on  the  same— The  Bev.  James 
Smith  on  the  same — Success  of  Mr.  Samuel  Morley, 
M.P.,  and  of  Earls  Shaftesbury  and  Stanhope,  in  securing 
the  abolition  of  the  custom  of  the  payment  of  wages  at 
public-houses — The  Bev.  Wm.  Moister  on  the  variety  and 
prevalence  of  social  drinking  habits — Dr.  J.  G.  Holland  on 
the  duty  of  society  in  this  respect.  § 97.  Dr.  Chapin  on 
the  responsibility  of  wealth  for  the  prevalence  of  the  drink 
evil — Lord  Claud  Hamilton’s  statement  (St.  James’  Hall, 
May  19,  1870)  concerning  the  prohibition  estate  in  Tyrone 
— Evidence  of  Mr.  T.  W.  Bussell  on  the  prohibition  estate 
of  Bessbrook ; Mr.  J.  G.  Bichardson’s  evidence  on  the  same 
— Statement  of  Mr.  A.  E.  Eccles  concerning  the  prohibition 
village  of  White  Coppice — The  Saltaire  prohibition  estate 
— The  prohibition  real  estate  companies  of  Mr.  John 
Boberts  in  Liverpool,  and  the  Artisans  and  Labourers’ 
General  Dwelling  Company  in  London— Pall  Matt  Gazette 
on  this  point — Mr.  Hepworth  Dixon’s  description  of  the 
results  of  the  prohibition  in  St.  Johnsbury,  Vermont — 
Success  of  prohibition  in  the  town  of  Pullman,  TT.S.A. 
§ 98.  Temperance  measures  which  might  be  adopted  by 
the  wealthy  railway  companies  of  Great  Britain — Dr.  J.  G. 
Holland  on  “ Bum  and  Bailroads  ” — The  lead  taken  by 
engineer  George  Stephenson — Action  by  the  West  Lancashire 
Barlway  Company  in  this  direction — Growing  success  of 
the  total  abstinence  movement  on  the  Midland  line,  and  in 
the  Bailway  Union  at  large — Oatmeal  drink  supplied  by 
the  Great  Eastern  Bailway  Company  to  their  employes — 
The  Toronto  Globe,  February  6,  1884,  on  “Drinking  and 
Positions  of  Trust” — Mr.  W.  J.  Spicer’s  circular  to  the 
Grand  Trunk  Bailway — Mr.  Bronson  Howard’s  account  of 
the  origin  of  temperance  reform  on  the  lakes  and  the  ocean. 
§ 99.  Suggestions  made  by  Mr.  Samuel  Morley,  M.P., 
that  an  Abstainer’s  Union  should  be  attached  to  every 
commercial  concern — Action  of  the  aristocracy  of  England 
in  favour  of  the  Blue  Eibbon  movement  and  other  temper- 


CONTENTS. 


XXXI 


ance  measures — The  significance  of  the  Blue  Ribbon  move- 
ment— Mr.  Gladstone  on  the  significance  of  the  Blue  Ribbon 
movement.  § 100.  The  plan  and  organization  of  the  Tem- 
perance Federation  of  Great  Britain,  1883.  § 101.  The 

foundation  of  all  temperance  reform  lies  in  individual 
character  and  worth — The  hope  of  temperance  reform, 
like  the  hope  of  all  other  reforms,  is  vested  in  love,  labour, 
humility,  and  unselfishness  ...  ...  ...  ...  331 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH 

A STUDY  OF  THE  DEINK  QUESTION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

DRINKING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENTS. 

§ 1.  Whether  we  look  at  the  individual,  family,  com- 
munity, nation,  tribe,  or  race  of  man,  human  advancement 
seems  always  to  have  been  surest  and  most  thorough  when 
the  lessons  of  the  past  have  been  allowed  to  bear  fruit  in 
the  present.  The  Drink  Question  is  a problem  co-extensive 
with  almost  the  whole  preserved  history  of  mankind ; and 
although  opinions  may  be  divided  as  to  the  effects  of  drink 
in  our  day,  that  the  past  must  furnish  valuable  suggestions 
on  this  point  will  not  be  disputed,  and  therefore  some 
knowledge  of  the  past  history  of  drink  is  a necessary 
preparation  for  the  study  of  this  question  in  the  present. 

In  trying  to  form  some  notion  of  the  drinking  habits 
of  the  ancients,  it  is  necessary  to  keep  certain  facts  in 
mind,  facts  pertaining  to  their  time  and  status,  and  almost 
wholly  absent  from  ours. 

The  ancient  mind  in  its  general  tendency  towards 
mysticism  and  away  from  materialism — the  reverse  of  the 
mind  of  to-day — revered  all  unexplained  phenomena,  wor- 
shipped all  those  numberless  forces  and  force  manifesta- 
tions which  it  could  not  master  or  account  for,  and  stood  in 
awe  before  the,  to  them, — yes  even  to  us, — essentially  veiled 
principle  of  intoxication.  This  awe  of  the  phenomena  of 
intoxication  is  the  one  characteristic  of  ancient  nature- 


Difference 
between  an- 
cient and 
modern  ideas 
of  life,  espe- 
cially as 
regards 
drinking. 


2 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


worship  which  perhaps  better  than  any  other  illustrates 
the  truth  that  external  nature — being  always  essentially 
the  same,  ancl  impressing  man  in  each  age  according  to  the 
intelligence  of  that  age  in  essentially  the  same  manner 
— infused  into  the  religions  of  the  past  a striking-  similarity. 

Distillation  was  unknown  among  the  ancients  (ex- 
cepting possibly  the  Chinese),  and  therefore  they  could 
know  nothing  of  our  distilled  liquors,  brandy,  whisky, 
gin,  rum,  liqueurs,  etc.  Another  thing  to  remember  is 
that  though  they  had  fermented  drinks,  such  as  soma,  and 
grape,  palm,  fig,  pomegranate,  apricot,  and  grain  wines, 
they  held,  in  their  childlike  veneration  of  the  unknown, 
a superstitious  reverence  for  fermentation,  while  their  very 
ignorance  of  its  causes  and  processes  made  it  exceedingly 
difficult  for  them  to  preserve  their  fermented  drinks  from 
turn  ing  into  vinegar. 

But  as  the  ancients,  ignorant  of  distillation,  could  not, 
as  is  now  the  practice,  fortify  their  wines  with  distilled 
spirits,  their  most  common  drinks  must  have  been  unfer- 
mented juices,  either  pressed  direct  from  the  fresh  fruit, 
or  from  juices  boiled  down  and  kept  in  skins  or  earthen  pots 
and  jars,  deposited  for  coolness  in  the  ground  or  under 
water  ; or  extracted  from  dried  grapes — raisins  soaked  in 
water,  etc. 

Their  fermented  drinks  likewise  were  usually  boiled 
down  and  kept  as  the  unfermented.  As  to  the  strength 
of  their  fermented  drinks,  it  seems  probable  that  then,  as 
now,  the  average  was  below  15  per  cent,  of  alcohol,  but 
here  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  ancients  rarely  drank 
fermented  wines  undiluted,  and  when  they  did  so,  were 
in  the  habit  of  drinking  copiously  also  of  pure  water ; and 
also  that  the  art  of  adulteration,  now  perfected  almost 
beyond  the  possibility  of  detection,  was  then  very  little 
understood  or  practised ; for  certainly  the  aromatizing  with 
spices,  and  sharpening  with  tar  and  other  substances,  as 
practised  by  the  ancients,  cannot  be  held  comparable,  for 
their  intoxicating  or  poisonous  effects,  with  our  modern 
scientific  and  most  unscrupulous  mysteries  of  drink 
concoctions. 

Again,  the  drinking  of  fermented  liquors  was  largely 
a religious  rite  with  the  ancients  ; their  banquets  were  even 
opened  with  propitiatory  or  grateful  libations  to  the  deities, 


DRINKING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENTS. 


3 


while  we  use  our  numberless  and  highly  alcoholized  drinks 
as  social  and  physical  stimulants  and  anodynes. 

In  a word,  the  fermented  drinks  of  the  ancients  were 
hut  little  adulterated,  almost  invariably  diluted,  and  asso- 
ciated with  a reverential,  if  undeveloped  and  mystic  worship. 

While  we  use  both  fermented  and  spirituous  liquors,  highly 
adulterated,  and  “ fortified,”  and  drink  not  to  God,  or 
with  religious  aspiration,  but  to  please  the  palate,  excite 
the  senses  and  passions,  kill  time,  forget  sorrows,  deaden 
anxiety,  drown  conscience,  and  gain  brute  courage  for 
infamy  and  crime. 

§ 2.  The  various  ancient  religions  have  come  with 
apparent  spontaneity  to  remarkably  similar  conclusions 
as  to  the  origin  and  history  of  their  intoxicants. 

For  instance,  somewhere  in  the  great  records  of  the 
East  Indians,  it  is  related  that  the  plant  from  which  the  soma 
draught  was  prepared,  was  brought  down  from  heaven  by 
a falcon  ; and  a legend  among  their  antipodes,  the  Huron 
Indians  of  North  America,  also  ascribes  the  origin  of  their 
intoxicant — the  tobacco  plant — to  heavenly  intervention. 

In  the  Rig -Vedas  (rig,  verb,  to  praise,  and  veda, 
knowledge)  the  Brahminic  Bible  and — according  to  our 
best  Vedic  scholars,  Professors  Muller  and  Von  Roth — 
the  greatest  and  truest  of  extant  records  * of  our  East 
Indian  progenitors,  we  find  that  they  had  two  kinds  of 
intoxicating  drinks,  soma  and  sura. 

Soma  (the  name  of  the  moon,  and  also  of  the  king  of  important 
plants)  is  at  present  a plant  unknown.  From  the  juice  drintfhistory 
of  it,  the  Vedic  people  prepared  an  intoxicating-  drink.  of  our  Vedic 

It  has  been  asserted  by  some  that  an  intoxicating  drink 
that  has  been  for  a long  time  back  prepared  by  the  Indians 
from  the  juice  of  Sarcostemma  acidiom,  is  the  same  as  the 
ancient  soma ; but  this  can  scarcely  be  so,  as  soma  was 
a pleasantly  sweet  drink,  whereas  the  Sarcostemma  product 
is  a disagreeably  bitter  one,  and  to  Europeans  quite 
intolerable. 

* It  is  known  with  certainty  that  the  Rig -Vedas  have  remained 
just  as  they  now  stand  in  John  Muir’s  Original  Sanscrit  Texts, 
for  nearly  three  thousand  years.  But  before  their  collection,  which 
was  probably  made  yet  a thousand  years  earlier,  these  hymns  had 
been  only  orally  transmitted,  the  oldest  evidently  for  some  fifteen 
hundred  or  two  thousand  years. 


4 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  real 
character  of 
soma,  and 
the  Indra- 
worship. 


Then  again,  Sarcostemma  does  not  grow  in  the  Seven 
River  Land,  the  home  of  the  Vedic  peoples. 

Sura,  probably  the  wine  of  rice,  was  not  common 
among  them,  not  used,  at  the  sacrifices,  and  its  nse,  never 
in  high  favour,  is  often  condemned  in  the  Vedas. 

Soma  was  worshipped  as  containing  the  vivifying  prin- 
ciple of  the  universe.  It  was  therefore  an  essential  to  the 
gods,  but  as  it  grew  on  the  earth  the  gods  had  to  descend 
thither  to  receive  it.  And  they  were  supposed  to  do  this 
at  the  daily  sacrifices  which  took  place  at  sunrise,  noon, 
and  sunset. 

In  some  recent  writings  on  the  drink  question  it  has 
been  asserted  that  our  Vedic  ancestors  were  really  a set 
of  drunkards,  and  citations  from  the  numerous  hymns  to 
Indra  have  been  made  in  proof  of  this  assertion.  But  the 
most  authoritative  interpretations  of  the  Vedas  do  not 
sustain  this  charge. 

As  pure  worshippers  of  the  great  phenomena  of  nature 
our  Vedic  forefathers  were  enthusiastic  lovers  of  light  and 
fearers  of  darkness.  Indra  was  the  favourite  god  of  the 
V edic  nations,  and  therefore,  in  spite  of  his  being  regarded 
as  the  youngest,  received  a very  great  number  of  hymns 
in  praise  of  his  lofty  attributes  of  wisdom  and  strength. 
Yet  with  this  mass  of  hymns  to  search  among,  Oriental 
science  has  not  yet  reached  unanimity  of  opinion  as  to 
what  special  contemplation  of  nature  lies  at  the  foundation 
of  Indra-worship.  But  by  such  evidences  as  the  hymns 
contain,  and  also  by  supposed  etymological  derivations  of 
Indra’s  name — the  word  Indra  is  cognate  with  certain 
Sanscrit  words  meaning  blue — a majority  of  authorities 
incline  to  think  that  Indra  signified  the  personification  of 
the  blue  heaven  reigning  over  and  dispersing  the  rain- 
clouds  by  combat  with  supposed  cloud-giants,  which  Indra, 
or  the  blue  heaven,  destroys,  setting  free  the  waters  they 
had  held  captive.  This  seems  to  clearly  explain  why  the 
god  Indra  was  always  by  his  devotees  assumed  to  be 
exceedingly  hungry  and  thirsty  : — 

“ Heartily,  as  a friend  serves  a friend,  the  fire  broiled 
For  him,  with  its  great  power,  three  hundred  cattle, 

And  with  these,  that  he  might  have  strength  to  slay  the  dragon, 
Indra  drank  three  lakes  of  soma,  pressed  by  man.” 

V.  29,  7. 


DRINKING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENTS. 


5 


How  natural  that  the  Vedic  peoples,  in  their  worship 
of  the  god  whom  they  conceived  to  be  their  saviour  from 
terrible  droughts  and  famines,  should  be  eagerly  anxious 
to  supply  him  with  as  much  soma  (universal  life-essence) 
as  he  required  for  the  performance  of  his  blessed  office. 
Of  course  so  much  of  the  soma  as  was  not  poured  on  the 
sacrificial  fire,  the  melting  butter,  horseflesh,  or  other 
offering,  was  probably  not  thrown  away.  But  even  from 
this  it  cannot  be  fairly  construed  that  gross  drunkenness 
was  common,  for  the  priests  were  evidently  not  a numerous 
body. 

Another  thing  to  be  considered  is  the  fact  that  though 
we  possess  no  practical  knowledge  of  soma,  the  Vedas 
furnish  abundant  unanimous  testimony  to  its  unique 
properties.  Besides  its  agreeable  and  refreshing  qualities, 
it  must  have  had  certain  properties  wholly  unknown  in 
any  other  intoxicants.  Indeed,  the  Big-Vedas  tell  us  that 
soma  was  a power  in  favour  of  morality,  having  the  effect 
of  intensifying  and  concentrating  the  moral  impulses,  which 
cannot  be  said  of  any  now  known  intoxicant ; nor,  so  far 
as  I have  heard  or  read,  has  this  effect  been  claimed  for 
any  other  intoxicant. 

For  example,  we  read  (translated  freely,  but  with  faith- 
ful literalness  as  to  the  meaning)  in  the  Big-Veda  (x.  25), 
this  hymn  of  praise  and  adjuration  to  soma  : — - 

“ Awaken  in  us  a noble  nature  of  heart ! 

Quicken  us  witli  understanding  and  knowledge, 

So  that  thy  friendship  may  be  unto  us,  0 Juice, 

As  unto  the  cows  is  the  grass  of  the  meadows. 

“ Everywhere  over  the  whole  earth  the  people, 

By  thy  heart’s  grace,  are  softened  and  blest ; 

So  strives  also  my  longing  towards  thee, 

That  I too  may  receive  of  thy  favour. 

“ Over  our  herds  is  thy  watch  kept,  O Juice, 

As  they  move  numberless  in  the  fields. 

On  each  thing  that  hath  breath  of  life  thine  eye 
Gazes,  and  thou  givest  it  strength  to  live.” 

Such  is  the  light  which  the  Big-Vedas  themselves  throw 
upon  the  question  of  the  effects  of  soma  drinking,  and  if 
a kind  of  inebriation  attended  the  habit,  it  seems  to  have 
been  distinct  in  nature  and  consequences  from  what  is 


Unique 
properties 
of  soma. 


6 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Ancient 

wine- 

traditions. 


meant  by  drunkenness  in  our  day,  for  there  is  both  aspira- 
tion toward,  and  expectation  of  great  good,  such  as  could 
never  have  been  expressed  after  even  only  one  experience 
of  the  effects  of  drunkenness  as  we  know  it,  with  its 
appalling  headaches,  its  dullness,  lethargy,  melancholy,  and 
incapacity.  The  above  verses — and  the  Vedas  furnish 
many  more  of  a like  significance — are  a pean  to  soma  as 
the  source  of  light  and  strength.  Nowhere  in  modern 
Bacchanal  song  is  such  a key-note  struck.  But  even  were 
soma  intoxication  essentially  the  same  as  modern  drunken- 
ness, the  soma  drunkard,  believing  in  soma  as  the  drink 
of  his  deities,  and  as  a source  of  inspiration  and  energy, 
is  morally  far  above  the  modern  drunkard. 

The  sura,  on  the  other  hand,  as  we  find  in  Indian 
history,  became  later  a national  curse,  so  that  the  great 
moral  reformer,  Manu,  who  lived  six;  hundred  years  before 
Christ,  found  it  necessary  to  impose  the  severest  penalties 
on  sura  drinkers.  For  instance,  he  directed  that  those 
who  relapsed  into  the  habit  after  once  abstaining,  should 
be  compelled  to  drink  some  of  it  while  it  was  ignited. 

§ 3.  Just  as  many  of  the  legends  and  traditions  of  the 
polytheistic  nations  of  antiquity  taught  that  the  intoxication- 
giving substances  were  direct  favours  of  heaven  to  man,  so 
likewise  do  several  of  the  traditions  and  legends  belonging 
to  the  monotheistic  beliefs  of  antiquity  point  to  Paradise 
as  the  land  of  the  grape ; some,  indeed,  claiming  the  vine 
as  the  tree  of  good  and  evil,  and  Noah  as  the  planter  of 
the  only  grape  saved  from  the  Deluge. 

Let  us  take  a glance  at  the  ancient  wine  traditions  of 
that  great  race  which,  though  for  close  on  two  thousand 
years  a landless  people,  and  numbering  in  Europe  accord- 
ing to  the  latest  census  only  five  and  a half  million  souls, 
and  spread  over  all  lands,  yet  maintains  a coherent  organiza- 
tion, successfully  avoiding  amalgamation  with  or  absorption 
by  other  nations  or  races,  keeping  its  own  interests  intact 
while  rivalling  the  Christian  world  in  many  aspects,  out- 
flanking her  in  some  and  commanding  her  in  others — the 
Jews. 

No  country  is  better  adapted  for  vine  culture  than  the 
plateau  of  Palestine,  but  since  the  Mohammedan  occupa- 
tion this  has  been  restricted  to  a few  localities,  the  principal 
being  in  the  environs  of  Hebron. 


DRINKING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENTS. 


7 


Vine  culture  was  very  flourishing  in  the  independent 
days  of  Israel,  and  wine  was  the  chief  product  of  the 
country,  and  a fruitful  theme  of  its  traditions. 

Kotzebue,  in  his  Journey  through  Persia,  says  that  all 
the  reasonings  of  the  ancients  on  the  subject  seemed  to 
indicate  the  Promised  Land  as  the  native  country  of  the 
vine,  and  even  the  Greeks  in  their  mythology,  place  the 
inventors  of  wine  in  Syria  and  the  adjacent  countries. 

At  the  present  day  a spot  near  Mount  Ararat  is  still 
shown  as  the  place  where  Noah  is  said  to  have  planted  the 
first  vine. 

The  Talmud — that  gigantic  collection  of  teachings,  Myths  about 
statutes,  laws,  traditions,  legends,  etc.,  peculiar  to  the  befn^thefor- 
Jewish  race — enlarges  upon  the  statements  concerning  bidden  fruit, 
man’s  earliest  existence  as  given  in  those  much  pondered- 
on,  succinct,  yet  baffling  first  chapters  of  Genesis,  and 
records  of  the  Rabbi  Jehuda  that  he  thought  the  vine  was 
the  forbidden  fruit.* 

But  the  Jews  are  not  alone  in  the  belief  that  wine  Various 
caused  the  fall  of  man.  The  eminent  theologian,  Dr.  ^inecaused4 
Lightfoot,  is  said  to  have  held  this  idea,  and  Mr.  More-  the  fail  of 
wood,  in  his  thoughtful  work  on  Inebriating  Liquors  man' 
(Dublin,  1838),  makes  the  pertinent  suggestion  that  Milton 
probably  entertained  some  such  opinion  when,  in  Paradise 
Lost,  he  wrote  of  the  fruit  “whose  mortal  taste  brought 
death  into  the  world,  and  all  our  woes.” 

“ Soon  as  the  force  of  that  fallacious  fruit 
That  with  exhilarating  vapour  bland 
About  their  spirits  had  played  and  inmost  powers 
Made  err — was  now  exhaled.” 

But  nearly  thirty  years  before  the  appearance  of  Paradise 
Lost  there  was  published  in  London  (1638)  an  incon- 
sequent and  shallow  little  work — though  significant  in 
this  connection — written  by  one  Dr.  Whitaker,  entitled 
The  Tree  of  Human  Life,  or  The  Blood  of  the  Grape,  etc., 
which  opens  in  these  words  “ This  subject  is  blood,  in 
that  is  life  ; it  is  of  the  vine  and  that  is  the  plant  of  life, 

* It  is  curious  to  find  that,  according  to  the  Rev.  Baring  Gould’s 
Legends  of  Old  Testament  Characters,  from  the  Talmud  and  other 
Sources,  the  inhabitants  of  the  island  of  St.  Vincent  thought  that  the 
tobacco  plant  was  the  forbidden  fruit. 


8 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Beliefs  tbat 
the  Deluge 
was  a punish- 
ment for 
drunkenness. 


That  the  vine 
which  Noah 
planted  was 
a sprig  from 
Paradise. 


and  if  I should  say  a species  of  that  was  in  Paradise,  my 
opinion  might  not  in  all  places  and  amongst  all  persons 
be  rejected  . . . for  as  that  (the  forbidden  fruit)  was 
called  the  tree  of  life,  so  is  the  vine,  and  they  do  not  only 
agree  in  the  appellation  but  in  their  nature  and  effects 
also.” 

Morewood  (op.  cit.)  says  that  the  Madagascar  natives 
believe  that  “ the  four  rivers  of  Paradise  consisted  of  milk, 
wine,  honey,  and  oil,  and  that  Adam,  who  required  no 
sustenance,  having,  contrary  to  God’s  command,  drank  of 
the  wine  and  tasted  the  fruits,  was  driven  from  the  garden 
and  subjected  to  the  punishments  entailed  on  him  and 
his  posterity.” 

Many  learned  theologians,  both  Jew  and  Gentile,  hold 
that  drink  existed  before  the  Flood,  and  that  the  Deluge 
came  as  a Nemesis  for  excessive  drinking,  basing  this 
belief  on  the  words  of  Jesus  : “ For  as  in  those  days  which 
were  before  the  Flood  they  were  eating  and  drinking  . . . 
and  they  knew  not  until  the  Flood  came  and  took  them  all 
away.” — Vide  Matt.  xxiv.  38,  39. 

Other  Jewish  doctors  say  that  the  vine  which  Noah 
planted  was  one  which  the  Deluge  swept  out  of  Paradise  ; 
that  Noah,  finding  it,  planted  it,  and  that  in  the  very  same 
day  in  which  it  was  planted  it  grew  up,  bloomed,  and  bore 
fruit,  which  Noah  pressed,  and  swallowing  its  juice  became 
drunken.* 


* Adam  Fabroni,  an  Italian  writer  of  the  eighteenth  century,  in  a 
work  on  the  Art  of  making  Wine,  attributes  to  Mntardi-ben-Tasif,  an 
Arab  author  (13  f.  10),  the  following  carious  legend  of  the  vine  : — 

“ Noah,  being  come  out  of  the  ark,  ordered  each  of  his  sons  to 
build  a house.  Afterwards  they  were  occupied  in  sowing  and  in 
planting  trees,  the  pippins  and  fruit  of  which  they  had  found  in  the 
ark.  The  vine  alone  was  wanting,  and  they  could  not  discover  it. 
Gabriel  then  informed  them  that  the  devil  had  desired  it,  and  indeed 
had  some  right  to  it.  Hereupon  Noah  summoned  him  to  appear  in 
the  field,  and  said  to  him,  ‘ Oh,  cursed  ! why  hast  thou  carried  away 
the  vine  from  me  ? ’ ‘ Because,’  replied  the  devil,  ‘ it  belonged  to 

me.’  ‘ Shall  I part  it  for  you  ? ’ said  Gabriel.  ‘ I consent,’  answered 
Noah,  ‘ and  will  leave  him  a fourth.’  ‘ That  is  not  sufficient  for  him,’ 
said  Gabriel.  ‘Well,  I will  take  half,’  replied  Noah,  ‘and  he  shall 
take  the  other.’  ‘ That  is  not  sufficient  yet,’  responded  Gabriel ; ‘ he 
must  have  two-thirds,  and  thou  one  ; and  when  thy  wine  shall 
have  boiled  upon  the  fire  until  two-thirds  are  gone,  the  remainder 
shall  be  assigned  for  your  use.’  ” 

Dr.  F.  B.  Lees,  in  his  Temperance  Text-Book  (London,  1SS1),  cites 


DRINKING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENTS. 


9 


As  to  the  planting  of  the  vine  by  Noah,  the  Talmud 
and  other  Jewish  writings  give  essentially  similar  descrip- 
tions. In  Baring  Gould’s  (op.  cit.)  the  following  version 
is  quoted  from  Jalkut,  Genesis  folio  6a : — • 

“Bowed  under  his  toil,  dripping  with  perspiration, 
stood  the  patriarch  Noah  labouring  to  break  the  hard 
clods.  All  at  once  Satan  appeared  to  him  and  said, 
‘ What  new  undertaking  have  you  in  hand,  what  new  fruit 
do  you  expect  to  extract  from  these  clods  ? ’ 

“ ‘ I plant  the  grape,’  answered  the  patriarch. 

“ 1 The  grape  ! Proud  plant ! Most  precious  fruit  ! 
Joy  and  delight  to  men  ! Your  labour  is  great,  will  you 
allow  me  to  assist  you  P Let  us  share  the  labour  of 
producing  the  vine.’ 

“ The  patriarch  in  a fit  of  exhaustion  consented.  Satan 
hastened  and  got  a lamb,  slaughtered  it,  and  poured  its 
blood  over  the  clods  of  earth.  ‘ Thence,’  said  Satan,  ‘ shall 
it  come  that  those  who  taste  of  the  grape  shall  be  soft 
spirited  and  gentle  as  this  lamb.’ 

“ But  Noah  sighed.  Satan  continued  his  work  ; he 
caught  a lion,  slew  it,  and  poured  the  blood  upon  the  soil 
prepared  for  the  plant.  ‘ Thence  shall  it  come,’  said  he, 
‘ that  those  who  taste  the  juice  of  the  grape  shall  be 
courageous  as  the  lion.’  Noah  shuddered. 

“ Satan  continuing  his  work,  seized  and  slew  a pig  and 
drenched  the  soil  with  its  blood.  ‘ Thence  shall  it  come,’ 

the  following  from  a still  earlier  work  (than  Fabroni’s),  Letters  Writ 
by  a Turkish  Spy  (London,  1693)  : — 

“ Noah  and  his  sons  planted  all  sorts  of  trees,  but  when  they  came 
to  look  for  the  Vine,  it  could  not  be  found.  Then  it  was  told  Noah 
by  the  Angel,  that  the  Devil  had  stolen  it  away,  as  having  some  right 
to  it.  Wherefore  Noah  cited  the  Devil  to  appear  before  the  Angel; 
who  gave  judgment  that  the  Yine  should  be  divided  between  them 
into  three  parts,  whereof  the  Devil  should  have  two  [as  much  as  to 
say  that  its  fermented  wine  does  twice  as  much  evil  as  good] — to 
which  both  parties  consented.  This  was  the  decision  of  Gabriel : 
That  when  two-thirds  of  the  liquor  of  this  Fruit  should  be  evaporated 
away  in  boiling  over  the  fire,  the  remainder  should  be  lawful  for  Noah 
and  his  posterity  to  drink.  And  thou  knowest  that  we  Mussulmans 
generally  obey  this  law  in  preparing  our  Wine.  Let  the  Devil, 
therefore,  in  the  name  of  God,  have  his  share  in  the  tempting  fruit, 
for  when  that  which  inebriates  [the  al-ghol,  or  evil-spirit]  is  separated 
by  fire  from  the  rest,  this  liquor  becomes  pure,  holy,  and  blessed. 
This  is  the  sentence  of  the  ancients.” — Yol.  v.  Lett.  12. 


Traditions  of 
Noah  and 
Satan  plant- 
ing the  vine. 


10 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


said  he,  ‘ that  those  who  drink  of  the  juice  of  the  grape  in 
excess,  shall  he  filthy,  degraded,  and  bestial  as  swine.’  ” 

Dr.  J.  Hamburger  * gives  a similar  version  : — 

“ As  Noah  was  occupied  planting  the  vine,  Satan  drew 
near.  ‘ What  do  you  plant  there  ? ’ he  asked.  ‘ A vine,’ 
said  Noah.  ‘ Of  what  kind  ? ’ ‘ Its  frnit  is  sweet,’  replied 

Noah,  ‘ whether  fresh  or  dried,  and  it  also  gives  wine 
which  rejoices  the  heart  of  man.’  ‘ So ! Let  us  be 
comrades  in  this  planting,’  said  Satan.  ‘ So  be  it,’ 
answered  Noah.  Satan  then  went  away  and  returned 
with  a lamb,  a lion,  a pig,  and  an  ape,  which  he  killed  one 
after  another  so  that  the  vine  should  be  (drenched  with 
their  blood.  Then  turning  to  Noah  he  said,  ‘ These  are 
the  signs  of  the  power  of  wine.  We  see  man  before  he 
has  taken  wine  as  innocent  as  the  lamb;  but  soon  after 
enjoying  it,  he  is  subjected  to  various  changes.  The 
temperate  enjoyment  of  wine  makes  him  brave  as  a lion, 
the  intemperate  use  of  it  turns  him  into  a pig.’  ” 

Colin  de  Plancy  gives  a Mussulman  tradition  as 
follows : — 

“When  Ham  had  set  out  the  vine,  Satan  brought  and 
poured  upon  it  a peacock’s  blood.  When  its  leaves  began 
to  appear  he  poured  over  them  the  blood  of  an  ape ; when 
the  grapes  began  to  form  he  watered  them  with  the  blood 
of  a lion,  and  upon  the  ripe  fruit  he  spilled  the  blood  of 
a pig.  The  vine  thus  nurtured  with  the  blood  of  these 
four  animals  has  acquired  these  properties  : the  first  glass 
of  wine  animates  the  drinker  so  that  his  vivacity  is  great 
and  his  colour  heightened  ; in  this  condition  he  resembles 
the  peacock.  When  the  fumes  of  the  liquor  rise  to  his 
head,  he  becomes  as  gay  and  full  of  antics  as  an  ape. 
When  he  has  become  drunken  he  rages  as  the  lion,  and  in 
the  height  of  this  condition  he  falls  and  grovels  like  the 
pig  sprawling  out  in  heavy  slumber.” 

In  the  Midrasch,  r.  1,  M.  Absch  37,  it  is  stated  that 
when  Noah  was  working  on  his  vine  plantation  he  was 
thus  addressed  by  the  Arch-Dtemon  : — “ I have  shared  in 
thy  labours,  beware  that  thou  dost  not  trench  on  my 
boundary  lest  I do  thee  harm.”  Noah  did  not  heed  the 
warning,  but  “ drank  to  excess,  and  passed  the  boundary 

* Real  Encyclopedie  fur  Bibel  in  Talmud  (Breslau,  1870),  part  1, 
pp.  1039-1042. 


DRINKING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENTS. 


11 


of  tlie  domain  of  the  daemons,  and  lay  naked  in  his 
tent.” 

In  the  Midrasch  Berescliit  Rabbet,  by  Dr.  Auguste 
Wiinscke,  we  read  that  Rabbi  Jochanan  finding  in  the 
Hebrew  letters  which  give  the  story  of  the  vine,  that 
those  spelling  the  word  “ woe  ” occurred  fourteen  times, 
warned  his  people  against  the  use  of  wine. 

According  to  Tabari,  an  Arabian  historian,*  Ham,  for 
having  laughed  at  the  drunkenness  of  his  father,  was 
cursed  by  Noah  that  his  skin  should  become  black,  as  well 
as  all  the  fruits  which  were  to  grow  in  the  land  he  should 
inhabit ; and  thus  came  the  purple  grape,  which  was  the 
white  grape  before  Ham  transplanted  it. 

§ 4.  Let  us  also  examine  the  mythological  web  which 
both  veiled  and  defined  the  spiritual  needs  and  religious  in- 
clinations of  the  ancients,  and  essentially  formulated  the 
character  and  shape  of  the  drink  question  among  them. 
We  know  that  among  the  ancient  Romans,  Bacchus  was 
the  god  of  wine,  and  that  the  infamous  Bacchanalia,  sup- 
pressed by  the  Senate’s  decree  (b.c.  186),  were  the  chief 
expression  of  Bacchus- worship  among  them. 

But  Bacchus-worship  was  not  confined  to  Rome,  neither 
did  it  originate  in  Rome,  nor  was  the  sensual  worship  the 
only  or  even  the  chief  worship,  as  we  shall  see  later  on. 

In  the  first  periods  of  historic  times,  Bacchus-worship 
was  a worship  of  all  the  active  forces  in  nature,  especially 
those  of  generation.  We  may  therefore  be  justified  in 
supposing  that  when  certain  exciting  properties  of  wine 
were  discovered  by  the  Bacchus-worshippers,  they  attached 
especial  value  to  it,  so  that  wine-worship  to  the  sensually 
inclined  became  identical  with  Bacchus-worship.  Aristo- 
phanes, in  the  fourth  century,  calls  wine  the  milk  of  Venus. 

Bacchus  had,  beside  his  local  names,  innumerable  other 
names  signifying  the  countless  various  manifestations  and 
properties  in  man,  beast,  and  plant,  which  he  was  supposed 
to  inspire,  create,  or  enjoy. 

He  bore  different  names,  also,  in  different  countries. 
Several  myths  designate  Noah  as  the  original  Bacchus, 
and  of  these  the  myth  in  India,  about  Satyavarman,  is 
the  most  striking.  As  the  ninth  chapter  of  Genesis  relates 
how  Noah  planted  a vineyard,  made  wine,  got  drunk,  and 
* Died  a.d.  922. 


Origin  of  the 
purple  grape. 


Summary  of 
the  origin 
and  character 
of  Bacchus- 
worship. 


The  original 
Bacchus 
thought  to  be 
Noah. 


12 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Noah  said  to 
be  Saturn,  to 
whom  is  at- 
tributed the 
discovery  of 
wine. 


Similarity 

between 

Greek  and 

Egyptian 

Bacchus- 

worship. 


Bacchus- 
worship  and 
the  serpent. 


was  in  a shameful  state  discovered  by  his  three  sons  Shem, 
Ham,  and  Japheth  ; so  the  East  Indian  Purana  (tradition) 
tells  of  Satyavarman  who,  in  a disgraceful  condition  of 
drunkenness,  was  seen  by  his  three  sons  Shema,  Chama, 
and  Tapeti.  But  Satyavarman  of  India  was  Adonis  in 
Phoenicia,  and  this  divinity,  again  (Selden,  He  Dm  Syr., 
Syntagma  11 ) , was  the  same  as  Osiris  among  the  Egyptians, 
Dionysos  or  Bakcbos  in  Greece,  and  Bacchns  or  Liber  in 
Rome.  Exactly  how  and  where  Bacchus-worship  originated 
is  not  known,  and  the  order  of  its  spread  is  also  matter  of 
dispute.  But  these  points,  though  so  interesting,  being 
non-essential  to  our  purpose,  we  may  not  linger  on  them. 

Morewood  (op.  cit. ) states,  according  to  Bockhart, 
that  Cadmus  first  brought  the  worship  of  Bacchus  among 
the  Grecians,  and  that  wine  was  introduced  to  them  by 
the  Syrians.  He  also  thinks  that  Hoah  was  the  same 
as  Saturn,  and  Plutarch  attributes  the  discovery  of  wine  to 
that  deity.  On  the  other  hand,  Alfred  Maury,  in  his  History 
of  the  Religions  of  Ancient  Greece  (Paris,  1869),  maintains 
that  Greece  had  its  Bacchus-worship  independent  of  the 
Egyptian  Osiris-worship,  and  that  it  was  when  regular 
communication  between  the  two  countries  was  established, 
during  the  Saitic  dynasty,  that  the  Greeks  first  discovered 
the  similarity  between  their  own  and  the  Egyptian  Bacchus- 
worship. 

As  the  ancients  had  several  Bacchuses,  so  they  had  also 
more  than  one  parentage  for  the  god,  whose  father  was  in 
all  cases  the  same,  namely  Jupiter,  but  not  so  the  mother. 
In  Egypt  the  mother  of  Osiris  (the  Sun,  and  later  on.  the 
Nile,  which  fructified  the  land)  was  Isis,  goddess  of  the 
fruitfulness  of  earth  and  the  source  of  wisdom,  which  is 
granted  only  to  those  who  “ by  persistence  in  lives  sober, 
temperate,  and  isolated  from  sensual  pleasures,  voluptuous- 
ness and  passions,  aspire  to  participation  in  the  divine 
natm’e.” 

But  the  Greeks  and  Romans  attributed  their  Bacchus 
to  a dual,  really  a triple  motherhood.  Two  of  the  three 
were,  however1,  of  essentially  the  same  nature,  Semele  and 
Proserpina  the  ravished  daughter  of  Ceres,  whom  Jupiter 
approached  under  the  guise  of  a snake,  the  reptile  which 
plays  so  important  a part  in  the  Bacchus  rites  (the 
serpent  and  the  forbidden  fruit  !). 


DRINKING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENTS. 


13 


A golden  image  of  a serpent  was  placed  in  the  lap  of 
the  newly  initiated,  the  satyrs  were  represented  with 
serpents  coiled  around  their  heads,  and  the  serpent  was 
consecrated  to  Bacchus.  In  these  ceremonies  wine  was 
indispensable,  the  worshippers  were  drunken,  and  the 
infamous  character  of  these  orgies  are  the  lasting  obloquy 
of  the  peoples  who  tolerated  them.* 

In  the  mythologies  of  India,  Egypt,  Greece,  Home,  etc., 
the  serpent  itself  was  worshipped  as  the  divinity  of  death, 
as  is  seen  often  in  the  designs  graven  on  ancient  tombs. 
The  serpent  was  also  placed  at  the  head  of  the  graven 
images  of  Hecate,  the  goddess  of  the  kingdom  of  the  dead 
(Genesis  ii.  17),  and  in  all  sorcery  and  necromancy  the 
serpent  has  been  an  essential  factor. 

Another  strange  symbol  of  Bacchus  is  the  horns.  In 
Egypt  the  bull  Apis  was  consecrated  to  Bacchus ; in 
Phrygia,  Zagraens  (Bacchus)  was  represented  with  horns. 
A horned  image  of  him  is  often  seen  in  the  front  of  public- 
houses  in  England. 

Drunkenness  and  sensuality  were,  however,  but  one 
side  of  the  ancient  Bacchus-worship  ; another  phase  as 
opposite  to  it  as  light  is  to  darkness  was  the  so-called 
Eleusinian  mysteries,  especially  the  “greater  mysteries,” 
which  were  observed  in  the  Attican  city  of  Eleusis  on  the 
Eleusinian  Bay.  According  to  Strabo,  the  Eleusinian 
temple  could  at  one  period  accommodate  from  twenty  to 
thirty  thousand  people  at  a time.  What  is  known  with 
certainty  about  the  “ greater  mysteries  ” of  the  Eleusinian 
Bacchus-worship  is  very  limited. 

The  works  of  the  few  writers  of  antiquity  who  ventured 
to  treat  of  these  mysteries — such  as  Melanthius,  quoted  by 
Athengeus  and  by  the  Scholiast  of  Aristophanes ; Hiceus, 
spoken  of  by  Clemens  of  Alexandria ; and  one  or  two  more 
— have  tracelessly  disappeared.  All  we  know  is  that  the 
Eleusinians  worshipped  Bacchus  as  the  son  of  Ceres  (in 
Greece,  Demeter,  the  same  as  Isis  in  Egypt),  and  that  their 
worship  chiefly  consisted  of  contemplations  and  demon- 
strations of  the  unity  of  God  and  the  immortality  of  the 
soul.  From  two  extraordinary  papers  on  the  subject 
of  the  Eleusinian  Mysteries,  contributed  by  Mr.  Henry 
M.  Alden,  editor  of  Harper’s  Magazine , to  the  Atlantic 
* See  Juvenal,  vi.  321,  and  Laetantius,  Just.,  div.  120. 


Eleusinian 

mysteries. 


14 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Monthly , during  1859-60,  I quote  these  few  passages  as 
revealing  more  of  the  elusive  and  subtle  spirit  of  the 
theme  than  any  modern  writing  I am  acquainted  with, 
and  as  not  being  outdone  in  this  quality  by  any  of  the 
native  ancient  authors  : — “ The  story  of  the  stolen 
Proserpina  is  itself  an  afterthought,  a fable  invented  to 
explain  the  mysteries.  The  Eleusinia  are  older  than 
Eleusis — older  than  Demeter,  even  the  Demeter  of 
Thrace — certainly  as  old  as  Isis,  who  was  to  Egypt  what 
Demeter  was  to  Greece — the  Great  Mother  of  a thousand 
names,  who  also  had  her  repeatedly  endless  sorrow  for  the 
loss  of  Osiris.  . . . The  worship  of  this  Great  Mother  is 
not  more  wonxlerful  for  its  antiquity  in  time  than  for  its 
prevalence  as  regards  space.  To  the  Hindu  she  was  the 
Lady  Isani.  She  was  the  Ceres  of  Roman  mythology,  the 
Cybele  of  Phrygia  and  Lydia,  and  the  Disa  of  the  north. 
According  to  Tacitus  ( Germania , c.  9)  she  was  worshipped 
by  the  ancient  Suevi.  She  was  worshipped  by  the  Mus- 
covite, and  representations  of  her  are  found  upon  the 
sacred  drums  of  the  Laplanders.  She  swayed  the  ancient 
world  from  its  south-east  comer  in  India  to  Scandinavia 
in  the  north-west ; and  everywhere  she  is  the  ‘ Mater 
dolorosa.’  And  who  is  it,  reader,  that  in  the  Christian 
world  struggles  for  life  and  power  under  the  name  of  the 
Holy  Virgin  and  through  the  sad  features  of  the  Madonna  P 
. . . And  what  do  we  read  on  the  tablet  of  Isis  ? — ‘ I am 
all  that  has  been,  all  that  is,  all  that  is  to  be ; and  the  veil 
which  is  over  my  face  no  mortal  hand  has  ever  raised.’ 
Hot  to  Demeter  nor  even  to  Isis  do  the  Eleusinia  primarily 
point,  but  to  the  human  heart, — ‘ I am  the  First  and  the 
Lash— Mother  of  Gods  and  men.  As  deep  as  my  mystery, 
so  deep  is  my  sorrow.  For  lo  ! all  generations  are  mine. 
But  the  fairest  fruit  of  my  holy  garden  was  plucked  by 
my  mortal  children,  since  which  Apollo  among  men  and 
Artemis  among  women  have  raged  with  their  fearful 
arrows.  My  fairest  children,  whom  I have  brought  forth 
and  nourished  in  the  light,  have  been  stolen  by  the 
children  of  darkness.  By  the  flood  they  were  taken,  and  I 
wandered  forty  days  and  forty  nights  upon  the  waters  ere 
again  I saw  the  face  of  the  earth.'  . . . Life  in  its  central 
idea  is  an  entire  and  eternal  solitude.  Yet  each  individual 
nature  so  repeats,  and  is  itself  repeated  in,  every  other,  that 


DRINKING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENTS. 


15 


there  is  insured  the  possibility  both  of  a world  revelation 
in  the  soul  and  of  a self-incarnation  in  the  world  ; so  that 
every  man’s  life,  like  Agrippa’s  mirror,  reflects  the 
universe,  is  made  the  embodiment  of  his  life — is  made  to 
beat  with  a human  pulse.  We  do  all,  therefore,  Hindu, 
Egyptian,  Greek  or  Saxon,  claim  kinship  both  with  earth 
and  the  heavens,  with  the  sense  of  sorrow  we  kneel  upon  the 
earth,  with  the  sense  of  hope  we  look  into  the  heavens.” 

Haggermacker,  in  his  able  work  on  the  subject  published 
in  1880,  says  that  the  mysteries  dealt  with  the  symbolic 
representation  of  the  myth  about  Demeter  and  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul. 

We  find  also  that  such  great  men  of  the  past  as  Pindar 
and  Plato  in  Greece,  Cicero,  the  slave  philosopher 
Epictetus,  and  the  noble  and  learned  Emperor  Marcus 
Aurelius  in  Rome,  were  enthusiastic  admirers  and  zealous 
advocates  of  these  mysteries.  They  were  abolished  by 
Emperor  Theodosius  the  Great  (379-397),  in  the  same 
general  decree  which  extinguished  the  sacrificial  fires  on 
all  the  yet  remaining  altars  of  polytheism. 

§ 5.  Historic  records  of  the  nations  of  antiquity  are 
replete  with  proofs  that  the  chief  destroyer  of  individual 
and  national  greatness  was  drink.  The  early  Medes  and 
Persians  gave  rigorous  education  to  their  youth,  who  were 
brought  up  on  a regimen  of  bread,  cresses,  and  water,  in 
order  to  accustom  them  early  to  temperance,  and  to 
strengthen  their  bodies.  Nor  were  the  four  great  Asiatic 
monarchies  of  antiquity,  Assyria,  Babylonia,  Media,  and 
Persia,  conquered  and  destroyed  by  the  sword  until  their 
earlier  characteristics  of  manliness,  patriotism,  and  morality 
had  been  sapped  by  drunkenness  and  debauchery. 

The  vast  Assyrian  power  whose  foundation  reaches 
beyond  historic  record,  after  incorporating  Iran,  Syria, 
Babylonia,  Egypt,  Asia  Minor,  etc.,  was  at  last  subdued  by 
the  rebel  sober  provinces  of  Media  and  Babylonia ; and 
that  prince  of  voluptuaries,  Sardanapalus,  last  independent 
ruler  of  Assyria,  when  he  saw  that  all  was  lost,  betook 
himself  to  the  funeral  pyre,  together  with  his  women,  his 
servants,  and  his  treasures.  We  are  told  that  his  motto 
was — 

“ Eat,  drink,  play,  and  know  that  thou  art  mortal ; drain 
present  delights,  there  is  no  voluptuousness  after  death.” 


Assyria  and 
drink. 


16 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Media  and 
drink. 


Persia  and 
drink. 


Familiar,  but  always  impressive,  is  the  account  history 
gives  us  of  the  visit  of  the  young  twelve-year-old  Cyrus 
to  his  grandfather,  King  Astyages  of  Media.  The  little 
fellow,  destined  later  to  overthrow  Media  and  Babylonia, 
and  to  found  the  great  Persian  monarchy,  was  so  astonished 
and  disgusted  at  the  riotous  drunkenness  of  the  Median 
court,  he  refused  to  touch  the  wine,  a custom  expected  of 
him  as  cupbearer  to  his  grandfather.  He  could  not  under- 
stand how  the  people  were  willing  to  drink  till  they  had 
fallen  into  such  a bestial  state. 

“ You  seemed,”  he  exclaimed,  turning  to  his  grand- 
father, and  referring  to  a recent  banquet — “ you  seemed  to 
have  forgotten  yourself,  to  not  know  that  you  were  the 
king,  and  when  you  wished  to  dance  you  could  not  stand  ! 
My  father  drinks  merely  to  quench  his  thirst.” 

And  time  brought  the  days  when  this  Cyrus  subjugated 
Media  and  deposed  his  grandfather  (b.c.  559).  A few 
years  after,  when  combined  against  by  Babylonia  and 
Lydia,  Cyrus  was  defeated  just  outside  the  walls  of 
Babylon.  But  Habunahid  (Belshazzar)  the  victor,  instead 
of  following  up  his  success,  arranged  in  its  celebration  that 
infamous  feast  in  the  midst  of  which  the  ominous  “ Mene, 
viene,  tel: el,  Upliarsin!  ” was  flashed  along  the  wall  by  the 
unknown  hand,  and  during  this  fatuous  debauch  Cyrus, 
re-gathering  his  remaining  forces,  stormed  the  unprepared 
city  and  slew  Belshazzar  in  his  cups. 

Persia,*  in  its  turn  becoming  weakened  and  emasculated 
by  wine  and  the  habits  it  generates,  passed  under  the  con- 
quering hand  of  Alexander  the  Great, f the  same  who  for  a 
time  withstood  the  corrupting  influences  of  Persian  sybari- 
tism, and  the  intoxications  of  his  own  triumphs,  but  of  whose 
death  by  intemperance  Seneca  writes  : “ Here  is  this  hero, 
invincible  by  all  the  toils  of  prodigious  marches,  by  all  the 

* Persian  history  attributes  the  discovery  of  fermentation  to 
Jemsheed,  a monarch  who  lived  very  soon  after  the  Flood.  Being  ex- 
ceedingly fond  of  grapes,  he  on  one  occasion  thought  to  save  some  for 
future  eating  by  packing  them  away  in  a jar.  Of  course,  when  he 
next  resorted  to  them,  he  found  in  the  stead  of  the  luscious  fruit,  wine. 
Tradition  says  that  Jemsheed’s  beautiful  cup,  carved  out  of  ruby,  and 
filled  with  “ the  elixir  of  life,  lies  buried  under  the  ruins  of  Istakhar.” 

f Alexander’s  physician,  Androcydes,  warned  him  in  these  words  : 
“ Bemember,  0 king,  . . . hemlock  is  poison  to  man,  and  wine  is  like 
hemlock.” — Pliny,  lib.  xiv.  chap.  v. 


DRINKING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENTS. 


1 


dangers  of  sieges  and  combats,  by  tlie  most  violent  extremes 
of  beat  and  cold,  here  lie  lies,  conquered  by  his  intem- 
perance, and  struck  to  earth  by  the  fatal  cup  of  Hercules.” 

It  is  difficult  to  imagine  more  horrible  deeds  than  were 
done  by  some  of  the  Persian  rulers  when  under  the  influence 
of  drink.  On  the  plea  of  giving  his  people  proof  that  wine 
had  no  effect  on  his  nerves,  Cambyses  ordered  his  cup- 
bearer— the  son  of  his  chief  officer  Prexaspes — -to  go  to  the 
opposite  side  of  the  room,  and  there  to  stand  quietly  with 
his  left  arm  raised  over  his  head.  Prexaspes  was  present, 
but  before  he  could  even  imagine  what  was  to  happen, 
Cambyses  had  taken  aim  with  a bow  and  arrow  and  shot 
the  boy  through  the  heart.  He  then  had  the  heart  cut  out 
from  the  youth’s  yet  trembling  body,  and  held  it  triumph- 
antly before  the  wretched  father’s  eyes,  exclaiming  that  he 
desired  that  this  proof  that  wine  did  not  harm  him  should 
be  made  known  to  his  subjects ; yet  it  is  to  be  observed 
that  Cambyses  (according  to  Herodotus)  confined  drinking 
to  himself,  his  army  being  allowed  only  water.  This  fiend 
married  his  own  sister,  and  in  a drunken  debauch,  during 
her  pregnancy,  kicked  her  to  death. 

What  views  about  drinking  were  held  in  ancient  Persia 
is  apparent  from  such  facts  as,  for  example,  that  preferment 
in  office  largely  depended  on  how  much  a man  could  drink 
without  losing  his  reason.  Indeed,  Cyrus,  who  fell  in  a 
duel  with  his  brother  Artaxerxes,  had  urged,  among  other 
reasons  why  he  should  be  chosen  before  his  brother,  that 
he  could  drink  a greater  quantity  than  Artaxerxes  “ with- 
out being  inebriated,  or  his  passions  disagreeably  excited.” 
And  Athenseus  (the  Greek  grammarian  from  Naukratis 
in  Egypt)  mentions  that  one  of  the  Dariuses  desired  no 
greater  encomium  than  that  it  should  be  engraved  on  his 
tomb  that  he  could  drink  a very  great  quantity  of  wine 
without  being  drunken.* 

* The  Classical  Journal  for  April,  1813,  gives  this  specimen  of 
old  Persian  poetry.  The  first  is  a ghazal 1 from  Shefalee. 

“ With  your  liver  intoxicated  with  blood,  it  is  delightful  to  reel 

1 The  ghazal  is  a form  of  Persian  poetry  introduced  into  German 
literature  by  Riickert  and  Platen,  and  consists  in  repeating  the 
rhymes  of  the  first  two  lines  in  the  fourth,  sixth,  and  eighth  lines, 
etc,,  the  intervening  lines  not  rhyming,  and  the  measure  being  a 
matter  of  option. 

C 


18 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Egypt  and 
drink. 


Temperance 
efforts  in 
Egypt. 


As  the  great  Asiatic  monarchies  fell  first  by  wine  and 
then  by  the  sword,  so  Egypt,  the  history  of  whose  vast 
and  highly  civilized  power  reaches  back  over  three  thou- 
sand years  before  Christ,  fell  likewise  into  the  slough  of 
drink  and  licentiousness,  and  was  conquered  by  the  Persian 
province  (b.C.  332).  Subsequently,  Alexander  the  Great 
took  it ; then  Greek  culture  gradually  drove  away  the 
Egyptian,  and,  after  the  battle  of  Actium,  it  became  a 
Roman  province  till  conquered  by  the  Arabs  in  a.d.  641. 

The  Egyptians,  whose  country  was  famous  for  its  corn, 
are  regarded  as  the  earliest  brewers,  and  it  is  claimed  that 
they  knew  how  to  extract  the  juice  of  barley  nearly  two 
thousand  years  before  Christ ; but  when  they  learned  to 
ferment  it,  does  not  appear.  They  very  early  used  what 
they  called  grain  wine  at  their  libations  (the  religious 
ceremony  of  pouring  wine  either  upon  the  ground  or  on  a 
sacrifice — living  or  dead — in  honour  of  a deity).  Herodotus 
tells  us  that  beer  or  wine  drawn  from  barley  was  the  liquor 
principally  used,  and  he  describes  the  clergy  as  feasting 
upon  the  sacrifices  and  quaffing  the  sacred  wine. 

Prom  about  four  to  three  hundred  years  before  Christ, 
the  Egyptians  had  a number  of  grain-wine  manufactories 
at  Pelusium  on  the  Nile.  But  the  ancient  Egyptians  knew 
also  how  to  make  intoxicating  drinks  from  fermented 
juices,  such  as  those  of  the  palm,  fig,  and  pomegranate. 

The  condition  of  Egypt,  before  its  invasion  and  desola- 
tion by  the  Persians,  as  regards  temperance  and  morality 
was,  as  we  know,  most  lamentable.  Men  and  women 
gloried  in  drunkenness  and  shame.  The  few  remnants  of 
sculpture  and  painting  that  remain  from  the  art  of  those 
days  give  ample  proof  of  the  condition  of  the  people  at  that 
time.  Masters  are  represented  as  carried  home  from  their 
banquets  in  sottish  unconsciousness.  The  dames  are  repre- 
sented struggling  with  nausea  from  their  too  copious 
bibbing,  and  hurrying  the  maids  with  the  necessary  bowl. 
Josephus  speaks  of  them  as  the  most  debauched  people. 

Yet  great  efforts  had  been  made  from  time  to  time  to 

like  a flame  ! intoxicated  with  blood  it  is  delightful  to  wallow  on  the 
ground ! whilst  jovial,  to  plunder  the  bower  like  the  breeze,  to  cull 
the  rose,  on  which  the  gardener  has  bestowed  his  willing  care,  is 
delightful.  But  in  a drunken  fit,  never  be  thou  so  weak  as  to  rise  up 
the  first  to  make  peace,  because  to  be  angry  afresh  is  delightful.” 


DRINKING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENTS. 


19 


save  Egypt  from  this  evil.  Several  of  the  Pharaohs  issued 
stringent  mandates  against  drunkenness,  and  the  ominous 
ceremony — apparently  not  commanded — of  placing  in  the 
centre  of  the  banquet  tables,  when  the  wine  was  “ beginning 
to  tell,”  a skeleton  crowned  with  a funeral  wreath,  dates 
from  those  day3. 

Among  the  many  devices  to  check  intemperance,  was 
a law  that  the  friends  and  relatives  of  the  dead  should 
abstain  from  all  wine  and  luxuries  for  a certain  time  (from 
forty  to  seventy  days  subsequent  to  the  death)  according 
to  the  rank  and  station  of  the  departed  ; the  higher  the 
rank  or  importance  the  longer  was  the  abstention  to  be 
observed,  which  is  significant  of  the  great  respect  really 
felt  for  temperance. 

“ If,”  as  Morewood  so  eloquently  says  of  ancient  Egypt 
(op.  cm),  “a  secret  glow  of  veneration  arises  for  a nation 
so  long  distinguished  in  the  annals  of  antiquity  for  all  that 
was  majestic  and  mighty,  whether  we  consider  its  almost 
superhuman  structures,  its  profound  erudition,  its  wonder- 
ful inventions,  or  the  splendour,  pomp,  and  glory  which 
surrounded  its  early  inhabitants,”  how  different  the  feeling 
which  presses  on  the  heart  of  him  who,  standing  to-day  in 
the  shadow  of  the  Sphinx,  sees  only  the  lonely  Nile  and  the 
far-stretching  torrid  sands,  both  alike  as  dumb  and  vestige- 
less to  him  of  those  nobler  realities  as  are  its  strong  lips 
and  fixed  unsleeping  eyes  ! 

But,  in  speaking  of  antiquity,  we  generally  mean  not 
the  Assyrians,  Babylonians,  Medes,  Persians,  or  even  the 
Egyptians,  but  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  The  other  great 
nations,  with  the  exception  of  the  Jews,  have  left  but  small 
traces  in  literature,  science,  and  art,  in  comparison  with 
those  of  Greece  and  Rome,  who  for  so  many  centuries, 
mutually  and  antagonistically,  but  absolutely,  ruled  the 
whole  civilized  world  for  the  time,  politically,  intellectu- 
ally, and  morally.  Notwithstanding  which,  they  exist  no 
more. 

Who  can  point  to  a living’,  genuine  remnant  of  either 
of  these  nations  ? 

What  destroyed  them  P Is  there  danger  that  through 
the  same  causes,  great  civilized  powers  of  our  time  may  in 
their  turn  collapse  and  disappear  ? 


20 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Greece  and 
drink. 


Athens. 


Sparta. 


Eome  and 
drink. 


In  speaking  of  Greece,  thought  always  reverts  to  the 
two  contrasting  rivals,  those  republics  of  Athens  and 
Sparta,  so  long  dominating  all  the  others. 

In  Athens  the  severe  laws  of  Draco  condemned  to  death 
any  person  convicted  of  being  drunk.  The  wise  laws  of 
Solon  (Jdiog . Laert.  in  Solon  i.)  condemned  an  archont  (the 
highest  public  functionary  in  Athens  after  the  abolition  of 
royalty,  B.c.  1068)  to  a heavy  fine  for  the  first  time  he  was 
intoxicated,  and  in  case  of  relapse — to  death.  A citizen 
seen  to  enter  a drinking  shop  was  dishonoured  for  ever, 
and  no  more  was  required  to  cause  the  banishment  of  a 
senator  from  the  Areopagus  (high  court  of  Athens). 

In  martial,  brave,  but  cruel  and  perfidious  Sparta — 
where  domestic  affections  were  crushed  out  by  law,  and 
the  common  decencies  and  moralities  held  in  contempt  in 
accordance  with  the  Lycurgan  institutions,  which  among 
other  things  enjoined  common  public  baths  for  both 
sexes,  and  placed  no  restraint  on  the  sexual  appetites — 
they  did  fear  the  results  of  drinking.  In  fact,  it  is  claimed 
that  Lycurgus  himself  gave  the  command  that  annually 
the  helotes  (slaves)  of  Sparta  should  be  intoxicated,  and  of 
the  orgies  ensuing  among  them  the  youth  should  be  made 
spectators,  to  infuse  in  them  aversion  to  drink. 

But  not  only  in  Athens  and  Sparta  was  this  rigour 
shown ; Pittacus  of  Mitylene  (island  of  Lesbos)  punished 
crimes  committed  in  drunkenness  with  double  penalties. 

But  in  Greece,  as  in  the  great  monarchies  of  the  East, 
drunkenness  prevailed  against  the  efforts  at  restraining  it. 

Wine  culture,  after  passing  from  Persia  and  Syria  to 
Greece  and  the  Archipelago,  was  brought  later  on  to  Italy 
and  Southern  France. 

In  the  first  days  of  Rome  wine  was  almost  unknown. 
Even  as  late  as  the  second  Samnite  war  (327-301)  the 
Dictator  Papirius  vowed  a small  cup  of  wine  to  Jupiter  as 
the  most  costly  gift,  if  he  should  be  victorious  ; which  he 
was  (309).  That  is,  almost  a hundred  and  fifty  years  after 
the  foundation  of  Rome,  wine  was  rarer  than  gems. 

And  for  centuries  after  the  Samnite  wars,  though 
wine  was  imported  in  increasing  quantities,  drinking 
habits  did  not  become  general,  until  the  time  of  Julius 
Caesar,  when  it  began  to  be  cultivated  in  Italy.  During 


DRINKING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENTS. 


21 


the  reigns  of  Augustus  and  his  immediate  successors,  wine 
culture  and  wine  making  became  a passion  among  the 
Romans.  During  the  empire  it  abounded,  and  history 
shows  beyond  question  that  enervation,  loose  morals,  cor- 
ruption, and  crime  increased  among  the  Romans  in  almost 
an  exact  ratio  to  the  increase  of  their  habits  of  drinking. 

Even  the  Stoics — those  severe  philosophers  who  held 
that  human  conduct  must  be  restrained  within  the  exact 
interpretation  of  the  four  cardinal  virtues,  Prudence, 
Justice,  Temperance,  and  Fortitude — even  they  sometimes 
intoxicated  themselves  for  the  “ refreshment  of  their  souls.” 
The  women  were  as  abandoned  to  drink  and  loose-living, 
and  prided  themselves  on  being  able  to  stand  as  much  wine 
as  the  men.  And  most  conspicuous  in  these  debaucheries 
were  the  Caesars,  and  the  emperors  Caligula,  Nero,  Vitel- 
lius,  Domitian,  etc.  And  yet  in  this  very  Rome,  steeped  in 
drunkenness,  licentiousness,  and  crime,  the  Vestal  Fire  was 
kept  inviolate  and  sacred,  and  we  find,  in  Tacitus  (Annals, xv. 
36),  that  even  the  monster  Nero,  having  dared  to  violate 
the  temple  of  Vesta  (by  entering  therein),  was  “seized 
with  a sudden  agitation  and  tremor  in  his  body,  as  if  the 
goddess  had  struck  him  with  terror  in  the  consciousness  of 
his  ill-deeds  ; ” and  the  same  multitudes  who  could  abandon 
themselves  to  all  excesses  of  the  Bacchanalia  approved  the 
condemnation  to  living  burial  of  a vestal  on  mere  suspicion 
of  impurity,  and  could  callously  look  on  at  the  whipping 
to  death  (according  to  law,  Livy,  xxii.  57)  of  a vestal’s 
paramour — so  little  was  it  understood  that  national  safety 
depends  on  character,  not  on  the  inviolability  of  shrines. 
Flave  these  lessons  of  the  past  borne  fruit  in  the  present  ? 

But  Rome  had  not  always  been  such  a cauldron  of 
seething  vices.  According  to  Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus, 
Romulus  promulgated  a law  which  permitted  the  husband 
to  kill  his  wife  for  drinking  wine,  as  for  committing  adultery. 
The  death  penalty  for  adultery,  as  we  know,  was  frequently 
inflicted  in  the  early  days  of  Rome,  and  Pliny  (book  xiv. 
chap.  13)  relates  that  a certain  Ignatius  Mecennius,  having 
killed  his  wife  for  having  drunk  wine,  was  acquitted  by 
Romulus ; and  Fabius  Pictor,  in  his  Annals,  states  that  a 
Roman  lady  was  starved  to  death  by  her  own  relations, 
because  she  had  picked  the  lock  of  a chest  in  which  were 
the  keys  of  a wine-cellar ; and  Pliny  also  assures  us  that 


Temperance 
efforts  in 
Rome. 


22 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Seneca’s  de- 
scription of 
the  results  c 
intemper- 
ance in  an- 
cient Rome. 


Syracuse. 


Carthage. 


Cneius  Domitius,  a Roman  judge,  in  a like  case  sentenced 
the  defendant  in  tliese  lines : “ That  it  seemed  she  had 
drunk  more  wine,  without  her  husband’s  knowledge,  than 
was  needful  for  the  preservation  of  her  health,  and  that 
therefore  she  should  lose  the  benefit  of  her  dowry.” 

The  custom  of  greeting  women  by  kissing  on  the 
mouth  is  said  to  date  from  this  time,  (!)  and  to  have  been 
adopted  in  order  to  discover  if  they  had  tasted  wine. 

That  the  famous  vine-planting  edict,  which  forbade 
throughout  the  empire  the  further  culture  of  the  vine,  and 
commanded  the  destruction  of  one-half  the  vines  then 
flourishing  in  its  vast  dependencies,  was  issued  by  Rome's 
worst  debauchee,  the  Emperor  Domitian,  signifies  how 
profound  was  the  dread  of  the  effects  of  drinking  upon  the 
nation’s  life  and  prosperity,  even  as  felt  by  one  of  its  most 
supine  votaries.  This  edict  remained  in  force  for  a hundred 
and  eighty  years,  and  then  the  Emperor  Probus  abolished 
it  as  far  as  France,  Spain,  and  South-Western  Hungary 
were  concerned. 

The  terrible  consequences  of  wine  drinking  in  ancient 
Rome  are  memorably  described  by  Nero’s  famous  teacher, 
the  noble  Stoic  philosopher  Seneca,  in  his  9oth  Epistle, 
§ 16  : — “These  excesses  result  in  pallor,  quivering  of  the 
nerves  in  the  wine-soaked  body,  and  a leanness  from 
indigestion,  more  pitiful  than  the  emaciation  of  hunger ; 
uncertain  and  unsteady  gait,  distension  of  the  bowels, 
which  are  forced  to  continually  take  in  more  than  they  are 
constructed  to  hold  or  make  use  of,  yellow  and  blotched 
complexion,  deterioration  and  rottenness  of  the  fluids  of 
the  system,  cramping  of  the  hands  from  hardening  of  the 
ligaments,  dullness  and  torpor  of  the  nerves,  alternating 
with  tremor.  And  the  indescribable  faintness  of  these 
victims,  the  torments  they  suffer  by  reason  of  disordered 
sight  and  hearing,  creeping  headaches,  etc.,  etc.,  what 
language  can  convey  ? ” 

As  with  Babylon,  so  with  Syracuse — during  a drunken 
debauch  in  celebration  of  victory,  it  was  reconquered  by 
the  vanquished. 

Sober  Carthage,  sinking  under  drunken  and  licentious 
habits,  fell  a prey  to  her  rival  Rome,  yet  Rome  did  nut 
learn  the  lesson. 


DRINKING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENTS. 


23 


Julius  Caesar,  in  his  Commentaries , wrote  of  the  Sueves 
— that  martial  people  who  filled  the  heart  of  Germany, 
from  the  Danube  to  the  Baltic — that  they  prevented  even 
the  importation  of  wine,  so  convinced  were  they  of  its 
destructiveness  to  strength  and  virtue.  But  these  also  fell 
to  drink  and  then  to  the  sword. 

“ The  writings  of  Hector  Boetius,”  says  Dr.  Ralph 
Barnes  Grindrod  ( Bacchus , 1839),  “ show  the  severity  of 
the  Scottish  laws  and  the  utter  detestation  in  which  in 
ancient  times  that  nation  held  drunkenness.  The  laws  of 
the  ancient  Scots  in  relation  to  those  who  kept  houses  for 
the  sale  of  drink  were  peremptory  and  severe.  ...  It  is  said 
that  Argadus,  Administrator  of  Scotland  (a.d.  160),  con- 
fiscated their  goods,  pulled  down  the  houses,  and  banished 
the  men ; and  under  King  Constantine  the  Second  (a.d. 
861),  if  they  did  not  submit  to  the  law  they  were  to  be  hung. 
One  of  this  king’s  laws  commanded  young  persons  of  either 
sex  to  abstain  entirely  from  the  use  of  inebriating  liquors. 
Death  was  the  punishment  on  conviction  of  drunkenness. 
The  same  law  and  same  penalty  extended  to  all  persons 
who  held  a magisterial  or  other  public  post.” 

As  to  the  Jews,  all  readers  of  the  Old  Testament  know 
that — in  spite  of  the  patriotism,  the  marvellous  coherence 
and  vitality  which  makes  the  race  unique  among  the  nations 
— the  kingdoms  of  Israel  and  Judah  were  strangled  by  the 
vine  ; and  as  to  the  Mohammedans,  usually  and  justly 
regarded  as  the  most  abstemious  of  peoples,  private 
drunkenness  is  terribly  prevalent  among  them  nowadays, 
though  perhaps  less  so  in  Turkey  than  in  Tunis  and  other 
Mohammedan  countries.* 

* It  is  well  known  that  the  prophet  Mohammed  rigorously  con- 
demned drunkenness,  and  it  is  related  of  him  that  in  the  fourth  year 
of  the  Hegira,  while  his  forces  were  contending  with  neighbouring 
tribes,  some  of  his  principal  men,  betaking  themselves  to  play  and 
drink,  quarrelled  in  the  heat  of  their  cups,  and  raised  such  broils 
among  his  followers  as  to  threaten  the  overthrow  of  all  his  designs, 
to  prevent  which  mischiefs  in  the  future,  he  forbade  the  use  of  wine, 
and  also  all  games  of  hazard,  for  ever.  Both  to  strengthen  and 
illustrate  this  commandment,  he  told  the  allegory  of  the  two  angels, 
Arut  and  Marut  (Prideaux’s  Life  of  Mahomet) , who  were  sent  from 
heaven  to  administer  justice  in  Babylon  in  her  ancient  days  : to  wit, 
that  once  a woman,  whose  affairs  had  been  arranged  for  her  by  these 
angelic  judges,  invited  them  to  dinner.  She  placed  wine  before  her 
guests,  and  though  God  had  enjoined  them  not  to  touch  wine,  they 


The  Sueves. 


Drink 
among  the 
ancient 
Scots. 


The  Jews. 


The  Moham- 
medans. 


Mohammed's 

drink 

allegory. 


24 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Thus  the  history  of  the  past  offers  a vast  array  of 
concurrent  testimony  that  as  long  as  drink  was  un- 
known to  a nation,  it  remained  comparatively  strong  and 
prosperous ; and  that  in  the  measure  that  nations  have 
succumbed  to  drink,  they  have  lost  their  independence, 
and  passed  in  the  most  terrible  harlotry  from  master  to 
master,  until  given  over  by  the  gangrene  of  decay  to  oblivion. 

drank,  and  then  tempted  the  woman.  She  pretended  to  yield  to 
their  wishes,  but  made  the  conditions  that  first  one  of  the  angels 
should  carry  her  to  heaven,  and  the  other  should  bring  her  back 
again.  On  coming  into  the  presence  of  the  Almighty,  she  told  Him 
how  she  had  been  tempted,  and  had  saved  herself  by  seeking  shelter 
with  Him.  In  reward  for  her  chastity,  the  Almighty  changed  her  into 
the  morning-star,  and  the  angels  were  given  their  choice  of  being 
punished  for  their  sin  at  that  time  or  in  the  future.  They  chcse 
immediate  punishment,  and  were  suspended  by  the  feet  with  an  iron 
chain  in  a pit  near  Babylon,  where  they  are  doomed  to  remain  until 
the  day  of  judgment.  Eor  which  reasons  God  forbade  His  servants 
ever  to  use  wine.  And  in  the  Koran  we  read,  “ Wine  and  gambling 
are  abominable  inventions  of  Satan.  Beware  of  forgetting  God, 
because  the  demon  would  employ  wine  and  gambling  to  fire  in  us  the 
flame  of  impurity,  and  turn  us  away  from  adoration  and  prayer.” 

Some  of  the  sultans  and  caliphs  took  extraordinary  measures  to 
prevent  drunkenness.  Soliman  I.  ordered  that  melted  lead  should 
be  poured  down  the  throats  of  drinkers. 


C 25  ) 


CHAPTER  II. 

HISTORY  OP  THE  DISCOVERY  OP  DISTILLATION. 

§ 6.  Although  mediaeval  history  gives  us  many  both  in- 
teresting and  instructive  facts  as  to  the  effects  of  drink  and 
the  efforts  made  to  combat  the  evil  during  the  dark  and 
early  Middle  Ages,  its  record  in  the  main  is  so  similar  to 
that  of  antiquity — -with  the  exception  that  condemnation 
of  the  habit  became  more  general,  yet  weaker,  and  indul- 
gence more  universal  and  excessive — that  I need  not  here 
dwell  upon  it,*  but  proceed  at  once  to  the  history  of  the 
discovery  of  distillation. 

Owing  to  two  acts  of  shameful  barbarity,  we  are  left  in 
nearly  the  same  uncertainty  regarding  the  discovery  of 
distillation,  as  by  chance,  we  are  in  regard  to  the  discovery 
of  the  physical  fact  of  fermentation.  All  the  ancient 
Egyptian  works  on  alchemy,  some  of  which  in  all  probability 
would  have  solved  the  question  still  baffling  ns,  as  to  when, 
where,  how,  and  by  whom  the  art  of  spirit  distillation  was 
first  discovered,  were  ruthlessly  destroyed  by  the  Roman 
Emperor  Diocletian  in  his  superstitions  fear  lest  the 
Egyptians  should,  by  converting  all  available  metals  into 
gold,  secure  the  means  to  regain  their  independence.  And 
three  hundred  years  later,  when  Egypt  was  taken  from  the 
Romans  by  Caliph  Omar’s  chief  commander  Amru,  that 
barbarian  destroyed  the  famous  Ptolemeian  Library  at 
Alexandria,  reputed  to  have  numbered  700,000  volumes, 
explaining  his  irreparable  villainy  on  the  silly  pretext  that 

* Those  who  wish  to  pursue  inquiry  in  this  direction  will  find 
abundant  information  in  Morewood’s  Inebriating  Liquors  (1838)  ; 
Rev.  Rather  Bridget’s  Discipline  of  Drink  (1876)  ; Mr.  Samuelson’s 
History  of  Drink  (1878)  ; and  in  the  works  to  which  these  authors 
refer. 


Reasons  for 
our  ignorance 
regarding  the 
discovery  of 
distillation. 


Barbarities  of 
Diocletian 
and  Amru. 


26 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Reasons  why 
its  discovery 
was  kept 
secret. 


Definitions  of 
distillation. 


Spirit. 


Spirit  distil- 
lation. 


if  the  contents  of  these  hooks  agreed  with  the  Koran  they 
were  useless,  if  against  it  they  were  pernicious,  and, 
therefore,  in  either  case,  their  destruction  was  proper. 

That  such  a secret  as  the  art  of  distillation  should  he 
confined  to  recondite  works,  and  not  spread,  hut  indeed  he 
guarded  from  general  knowledge,  is  not  very  surprising 
when  the  position  of  the  discoverer  (or  participant  in  the 
discovery)  is  considered.  He  might  at  first  have  imagined 
that  he  had  at  last  discovered  that  life  elixir  which  in  the 
dark  ages  seems  to  have  been  the  one  ray  of  hope  to  man  ; 
and  though  experiment  must  soon  have  disproved  this 
theory,  he  was  still,  unless  sheltered  hy  exceptionally  high 
and  favoured  station,  in  danger  of  his  life  from  the 
machinations  of  public  and  private  avarice;  and,  again, 
subject  to  total  loss  of  the  special  advantages  of  his  know- 
ledge, should  it  be  generally  disseminated. 

Distillation,  generally  speaking,  may  he  said  to  have 
preceded  the  discovery  of  fermented  drinks,  because  who- 
ever first  condensed  (and  any  one  might  have  done  so) 
some  of  the  steam  rising  from  boiling  water,  would  be  the 
first  distiller,  and  in  a like  sense  he  who  should  be  the  first 
to  (for  any  reason)  boil  fermented  liquor,  and  condense 
some  of  its  vapours  on  a cool  surface,  would,  whether  he 
knew  it  or  not,  be  the  first  spirit  distiller. 

But  so  long  as  such  facts  were  accidents — that  is,  not 
results  of  man’s  understanding  or  intention,  but  occurring 
without  attracting  observation  to  the  processes — they  were 
practically  not  discoveries. 

Distillation  * is  “ the  volatilization  of  a liquid  in  a 
closed  vessel  by  heat,  and  its  subsequent  condensation  in 
a separate  vessel  by  cold.”  f But  the  ancients  applied  the 
term  to  most  operations  of  transformation,  purification, 
and  analysis.  Some  solids  as  well  as  liquids  may  be  dis- 
tilled (but  not  all  of  them)  ; for  example,  iodine,  arsenic, 
chlorides  of  mercury,  etc. 

Spirit  is  a term  which,  though  specially  applied  to 
alcohol,  is  applicable  to  any  liquid  produced  by  distillation. 

Spirit  distillation  is  the  operation  of  extracting-  spirit 
from  a substance  by  evaporation  and  condensation. 

# Latin,  de  and  stillare ; Italian,  distillare ; French,  distiller; 
Spanish,  destilar — to  flow  or  fall  in  drops, 
t Webster’s  Dictionary. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  DISTILLATION. 


27 


Spirit  distillation  merely  sifts  out  tire  alcohol.  Alcohol 
boils  at  173°  Fahr.,  while  water  reaches  boiling  point  first 
at  a temperature  of  212°  Fahr.  Consequently  cider  or  grape 
or  any  juice  containing  saccharine  matter,  when  subjected 
to  heat,  boils  the  alcohol  first,  which,  in  the  shape  of  steam, 
can  be  passed  into  and  deposited  in  a separate  vessel.  The 
point  in  this  process  is  to  secure  the  boiling  point  of  the 
alcohol  without  reaching  the  heat  at  which  the  water  will 
boil. 

Rectification  is  the  re-distillation  of  what  has  already 
been  distilled.  Its  object  is  to  separate  more  comjoletely 
the  water  which  may  have  been  vaporized  with  the 
alcohol. 

§ 7.  The  original  discovei'y  of  spirit  distillation*  is  very 
naturally  sought  for  in  those  countries  of  antiquity  dis- 
tinguished for  the  greatest  civilization  and  culture,  and 
writers  on  the  subject  are  tolerably  unanimous  in  pointing 
to  the  Far  Eastf  and,  most  of  them,  to  China.  J “ Humboldt 
says  that  the  process  used  by  us  in  making  sugar  was 
brought  from  Oriental  Asia,  and  that  even  the  cylinders 
jilaced  horizontally  and  put  in  motion  by  a mill  with 
cauldrons  and  purifying  ajsparatus,  such  as  are  to  be  seen 

* “ There  runs  an  old  German  legend,  prevalent  to  this  day  in  the 
duchy  of  Saxe-Meiningen,  which  details  circumstantially  his  Satanic 
Majesty’s  claim  to  this  important  invention.  The  monarch  of  the 
infernal  regions,  so  the  story  goes,  was  once  fairly  outwitted  by  a 
Steinbach  man,  who  tricked  the  great  enemy  of  mankind  into 
entering  an  old  beech-tree,  where  he  found  himself  trapped  without 
power  of  escape,  and  did  not  regain  his  freedom  till  the  tree  was  cut 
down.  As  soon  as  he  was  liberated,  Old  Nick  rushed  frantically  to 
his  dominions  to  see  how  things  had  fared  during  his  absence.  To 
his  dismay  he  found  hell  empty.  Casting  about  him  for  some  means 
of  refilling  Pandemonium  with  lost  souls,  he  hit  upon  the  idea  of 
inventing  brandy.  Delighted  with  this  happy  thought,  he  hurried 
at  once  to  the  city  of  Nordhausen,  and  set  up  a distillery  there,  which 
was  so  successful  that  all  the  rich  men  of  the  place  came  to  him  to 
learn  this  new  art  of  brandy-making,  and  in  due  time,  abandoning 
their  other  business,  became  distillers  themselves.  ‘ And  thus,’  says 
the  old  chronicler  of  the  legend,  ‘ it  happened  that  to  the  present  day 
there  is  no  other  place  in  the  world  where  there  is  so  much  of  brandy 
burned  as  at  Nordhausen.’” — Licensed  Victuallers’  Guide,  July,  1880. 

t The  Asiatic  Journal  of  1840  cites  an  old  Hindu  manuscript, 
according  to  which  a distilled  liquor  resembling  brandy,  called 
Kea-sum,  was  known  in  India  from  most  ancient  times. 

X Samuel  Morewood. 


Rectification. 


Discovery  of 
spirit  distil- 
lation attri- 
buted to  the 
Far  East. 

China. 


28 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Reasons  cited 
for  believing 
the  Chinese 
to  have  been 
the  original 
discoverers  of 
distillation, 
while  seek- 
ing the  elixir 
vitce. 


in  the  West  Indies,  are  purely  of  Chinese  origin,  and  were 
in  use  at  a period  long  anterior  to  the  visit  of  any  European 
to  that  country.  ...  In  China,  a country  which  has 
preserved  its  civil  polity  for  so  many  thousand  years,  the 
art  of  distillation  was  known  far  beyond  the  date  of  any 
of  its  authentic  records.  . . . That  the  Chinese  were 
versed  in  all  the  secrets  of  alchemy,  or,  rather,  in  that 
branch  of  it  which  had  for  its  object  a universal  panacea, 
long  before  this  fancy  engaged  the  speculations  of  European 
practitioners,  there  is  abundant  proof,  since  some  of  their 
empirics  have  from  an  early  period  boasted  of  a specific 
among  their  drugs  which  insures  an  immortality  like  that 
conferred  on  Godwin's  ‘ St.  Leon.’  The  search  after  this 
elixir  vitce  originated,  it  appears,  among  the  disciples  of 
the  philosopher  Lao-kiun,  who  flourished  six  hundred 
years  before  Christ.  Hot  content  with  the  tranquillity  of 
mind  which  that  teacher  of  wisdom  endeavoured  to  in- 
culcate, and  considering  death  as  too  great  a bander  to  its 
attainment,  they  betook  themselves  to  chemistry,  and  after 
the  labour  of  ages  in  a vain  endeavour  to  prevent  the 
dissolution  of  our  species,  and  after  the  destruction  of  three 
of  their  emperors,  wdio  fell  victims  to  the  immortalizing 
draught,  they,  like  the  alchemists  of  Europe,  ended  their 
researches  under  the  pretence  of  discoveries  which  were 
never  made. 

“ The  Emperor  Vn-Ti,  who  reigned  in  the  year  177  B.c., 
when  about  to  put  one  of  his  ministers  to  death  for  drink- 
ing a cup  of  this  liquor  which  had  been  prepared  for  him- 
self, was  convinced  of  his  weakness  and  folly  by  the 
following  wise  and  sensible  remonstrance  of  his  minister : — 

“ 1 If  this  drink,  sire,  hath  made  me  immortal,  how  can 
you  put  me  to  death  ? But  if  you  can,  how  does  such  a 
frivolous  theft  deserve  it  P ’ ” * 

Dr.  Baer,  of  Berlin,  in  his  Alcoholismus  (1878),  says 
that  “ Santschu,  a spirit  distilled  from  various  grains  in 
China,  but  especially  from  rice,  has  been  a common  drink 
in  China  and  Japan  for  several  hundred  years.” 

That  the  Arabs  knew  anything  of  distillation  previous 
to  their  intercourse  with  the  Chinese  empire  (in  a.d.  715) 
is  contested. 

* Du  Halde,  Annals  of  the  Monarclis,  vol.  i.  p.  177. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  DISTILLATION. 


29 


Dr.  Magnus  Huss,  in  his  excellent  work  Alcoliolismus 
(Stockholm,  1849-1851),  says  that  “ the  art  of  distillation 
was  first  discovered  in  .Arabia,  but  as  regards  arrack  at 
least,  the  Chinese  and  Indians  seem  to  have  been  their 
teachers.” 

But  there  is  ample  reason  for  supposing  that  spirit  dis- 
tillation was  practically  known  in  Arabia  long  before  the 
time  generally  accepted  as  the  earliest.  There  seems  little 
doubt  that  Geber  (Abou-Moussah  Diafar-el-Soli)  knew 
the  process  of  distillation.  According  to  Leo  Africanus,* 
Geber  lived  in  the  seventh  century,  according  to  others 
in  the  eighth.  He  was  called  Prince  because  of  his  great 
learning.  Several  of  his  works  in  Arabic,  and  one  English 
translation,  are  to  be  found  in  the  British  Museum.  In 
his  Liber  Investigationis  Magisterii , Geber  himself  describes 
distillation  and  re-distillation,  and  proves  that  he  under- 
stood the  processes  and  the  value  of  the  retort  (vessel  in 
which  substances  are  subjected  to  distillation  or  decom- 
position by  heat).  “ Distillation  is  the  raising  of  aqueous 
vapour  in  any  vessel  in  which  it  is  placed.  There  are 
various  modes  of  distillation.  Sometimes  it  is  performed 
by  means  of  fire,  sometimes  without  it.  By  means  of  lire 
the  vapour  either  ascends  into  a vessel  or  descends,  as 
when  oil  is  extracted  from  vegetables.  . . . When  we 
distil  oil  by  means  of  water  we  obtain  fair  and  clean  oil. 
. . . By  means  of  water,  then,  we  must  proceed  with  every 
vegetable,  and  things  of  the  same  nature,  to  ascertain  their 
elementary  parts.  ...  If  not  pure  at  first,  put  it  back 
until  it  becomes  sufficiently  pure.  . . . N.B. — At  first  it 
will  send  over  only  the  water  with  which  it  was  moistened, 
then  the  liquor  to  be  distilled.”  f 

Whether  Geber  knew  about  alcoholic  distillation  is  not 
distinctly  stated.  That,  however,  he  or  some  disciple  of 
his  probably  did  so,  we  are  led  by  a variety  of  circumstances 
to  infer,  and  Morewood  (op.  cit.)  quotes  the  saying  that 
“ Al-Mokanna,  the  veiled  prophet,  whose  life  and  actions 
are  so  beautifully  detailed  by  Moore  in  his  Lalla  Uoolch, 
when  likely  to  be  taken  by  the  troops  under  the  command 
of  Almohdis’  general,  in  the  year  Hegira  163,  or  980  of 

* Hist.  Grit.  Philosophies,  1,  vol.  iii.  p.  136. 

t Cited  from  Geber  by  Samuel  Morewood,  in  bis  History  of 
Inebriating  Liquors,  Dublin,  1838. 


Distillation 
in  Arabia. 


Geber. 


Al-Mokan- 
na’s  death. 


30 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Rhazes,  the 

Moorish 

physician. 


Albucassis, 
a Moorish 
physician. 


Raimnndus 

Lullus. 

Arnoldus 

Villa-Novus. 


our  era,  to  avoid  falling  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies, 
after  poisoning  his  whole  family  and  followers,  thi’ew  him- 
self into  a vessel  of  aquafortis.” 

§ 8.  As  regards  Europe,  it  appears  certain  that  Rhazes 
(Mohammed  Aboubekr  ibn  Zakaria  el  Rhazi,  850-923), 
the  celebrated  Moorish  physician,  called  the  phoenix  of  his 
age  on  account  of  his  vast  learning,  practised  spirit  dis- 
tillation. Dr.  J.  Friend,  in  his  History  of  Physic  (London, 
1726,  vol.  i.),  says,  “As  to  distillation,  M.  Le  Clerc  fixes 
the  epoch  of  it  in  the  time  of  Avicenna  ” (a  Moorish 
physician  who  died  about  1036),  “who,  as  he  supposes, 
first  applied  this  sort  of  knowledge  in  the  way  of  medicine ; 
...  if  it  be,  as  perhaps  it  may  be  . . . derived  from  the 
Arabians,  the  honour  of  the  invention  ought  rather  to  be 
restored  to  Rhazes.”  Hoefer,  in  his  great  work,  History  of 
Chemistry,  says  positively  that  Rhazes  knew  how  to  distil 
spirit  from  grain,  but  for  some  reason  his  discovery  did 
not  become  a matter  of  general  knowledge. 

Two  hundred  years  later  another  distinguished  Moorish 
physician  and  chemist,  Albucassis,  or  Aboul  Casim  (Chalaf 
Ben  Abbas  el-Zahravi,  died  a.d.  1106),  is  claimed  to  have 
discovered  the  art  of  distillation,  and  in  his  case  at  least 
there  are  positive  proofs.  The  Arab  historian,  Wiistenfeld, 
in  his  History  of  Arabian  Physicians  and  Naturalists  (1840), 
demonstrates  with  documents  that  Albucassis  knew  how 
to  make  brandy,  which  disposes  of  the  erroneous  but 
familiar  assertion — resting  on  the  unsupported  statement 
of  Andersen  in  his  History  of  Commerce — that  distillation 
was  discovered  so  late  in  the  twelfth  century  as  1150. 
And  yet  it  was  first  in  the  days  of  Raimnndus  Lullus 
(1234-1315)  and  Arnoldus  Villa-Novus  (1238—1314)  that 
the  knowledge  of  distillation  began  to  be  spread. 

Raimundus  Lullus,  born  on  the  Spanish  island  Majorca, 
was  first  a theologian  of  eminent  merits,  but  falling  in  love 
with  a charming  girl  who  was  afflicted  with  cancer,  he 
gallantly  attacked  physic  and  chemistry  in  the  hope  of 
learning  how  she  might  be  cured,  and  his  studies  in 
chemistry  were  so  thorough  that  he  became  one  of  the  most 
famous  of  alchemists.  He  improved  upon  the  crude  mode 
of  spirit  distillation  by  using  salts  for  the  elimination  of 
water.* 

* Ars  magna  Lulli , or  “ Lullus’ s great  art,”  was  an  ingenious 


HISTORY  OF  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  DISTILLATION. 


31 


Of  Arnoldus  Villa-Novus,  Professor  of  Medicine  at 
Montpelier,  France,  Dr.  Thomson  ( System  of  Chemistry, 
vol.'  ii.  1817)  says,  “ He  was  the  first  to  form  tinctures 
and  introduce  them  into  medicine  ; ” and  citing  from  Crell’s 
Annals  (1796),  Dr.  Thomson  adds,  “He  is  said  also  to 
have  been  the  first  who  obtained  the  oil  of  turpentine.” 
He  is  chiefly  known  for  the  zeal  with  which  he  advocated 
the  use  of  alcohol,  being  as  identified  with  its  spread  as 
Friar  Hernandez  with  that  of  tobacco,  and  as  Peter  the 
Hermit  with  the  recovery  of  the  Holy  Grave. 

§ 9.  When  we  consider  that  the  alchemists — whose 
philosophy,  founded  by  Hermes  Trismegistus,  was  based  on 
Aristotle’s  doctrine  of  four  elementary  substances  of  the 
universe,  air,  water,  fire,  and  earth — had  been  constantly 
labouring  for  hundreds  of  years,  by  means  of  various  com- 
binations, to  extract  from  these  elements  the  universal 
essence  of  life,  is  it  wonderful  that  on  obtaining  this 
mysterious  spirituous  fluid,  comprising  ingredients  of  all 
these  elements,  yet  baffling  their  efforts  at  analysis,  they 
should  at  once  cry  out  that  at  last  was  found  the  philo- 
sopher’s stone,  the  fifth  element,  the  quintessence,  the 
elixir  of  life  ? 

The  Adepts  (those  credited  with  having  found  the 
philosopher’s  stone,  and  therefore  perfect  in  alchemic  art), 
judging  from  the  burning  sensation  it  produced,  and  the 
fact  that  it  is  obtained  only  by  the  well-managed  and 
careful  application  of  heat,  believed  that  spirit  contained 
the  principles  of  fire.* 

Is  it  wonderful  that  when  they  found  out  their  terrible 
mistake,  they  were  exceedingly  loth  to  acknowledge  it, 
the  belief  of  the  masses  being  the  only  plank  for  their 
otherwise  absolutely  lost  reputation  P 

Is  it  strange  that  the  masses  of  the  nations  who  had 
been  for  centuries  kept  in  feverish  expectancy  of  the  great 

attempt  at  systematic  arrangement  of  the  ideas  necessary  in  general 
knowledge  and  ordinary  communication,  letters  to  be  used  as  signi- 
fying the  fundamental  ideas,  and  mathematical  figures  to  indicate 
their  relations.  Going  at  last  as  a missionary  to  Mauritania  (north- 
west coast  of  Africa),  he  was  stoned  to  death  at  the  age  of  eighty,  by 
the  natives. 

* The  North  American  Indians  seem  by  natural  instinct  to  have 
reached  a similar  conclusion  in  their  simple  effective  appellation — 
fire-water. 


Reasons  for 
the  alche- 
mists’ belief 
in  alcohol. 


Reasons  for 
the  credulity 
of  the 
masses. 


32 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Various 
names  for 
alcohol. 


Derivations 
of  the  word 
alcohol. 


discovery,  stould,  on  hearing  the  “ Io  triomphe  ! ” of  their 
wisest  leaders,  make  the  eager  chorus  of  that  cry  and 
clamour  for  the  poisoning  draught  which  they  believed  to 
be  the  “ Water  of  life  ” ? 

§ 10.  When  first  discovered,  the  distilled  spirit  was 
known  by  a variety  of  names,  such  as  aqua  ardens,  aqua- 
fortis, vinum  ardens , vinum  adustum  (burnt) , spiritus  ardens, 
etc.  Arnoldus  Villa- No  vus  called  it  aqua-vitae  or  aqua-vini. 
Raimundus  Lullus  often  called  it  aqua  ardens  and  aqua 
vitce  ardens.  It  was  also  called  mercurius  vegetabilis, 
because  bodily  substances  capable  of  being  evaporated 
through  circulating  heat  were  termed  mercurial,  as  it  is 
by  means  of  intense  heat  that  mercury  in  the  form  of 
fumes  is  expelled  from  metallic  minerals.  “ This  name, 
however,”  says  H.  Kopp,  in  his  History  of  Chemistry 
(Braunschweig,  1847),  “came  into  disuse  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  from  that  time  forth  the  term  alcohol  became 
steadily  more  general.” 

In  the  word  alcohol  the  Arabic  article  al  is  prefixed, 
as  in  the  word  aZ-chemy,  to  denote  the  superlative  degree 
of  the  cohol,  or  in  Arabic,  icohl ; in  Chaldaic,  cohal ; in 
Hebrew,  haal ; which  means  fine,  that  is,  exceedingly  fine 
and  subtle.  This  word  was  used  in  Arabia  as  the  name  of 
an  almost  ethei’eally  fine  powder  with  which  the  Eastern 
dames  were  wont  to  tinge  their  eyebrows  and  eyelashes  ; 
hence  because  this  fluid  was  found  in  Arabia,  and  was 
among  fluids  as  fine  and  volatile  as  this  cosmetic  among 
powders,  Europeans  gave  to  it  the  same  name.* 

According  to  Dr.  Edward  Johnson,  it  is  founded  upon 
the  Eastern  superstition  of  the  earth  being  infested  with 
wicked  spirits,  and  that  when  the  first  effect  of  this  newly 
discovered  drug  was  seen  upon  men,  the  Arabians  imagined 
the  persons  to  be  possessed  of  a devil,  which  had  either 
assumed  the  form  of  the  liquid,  or  entered  the  body  along 
with  it,  in  which  case  they  would  in  fright  exclaim,  “ Al 
ghole,  Al  ghole,”  the  evil  ghost  or  spirit. f And  even  when 
this  notion  was  put  aside,  the  vast  amount  of  mischief 

* Rev.  Dr.  J.  Guthrie,  in  his  Temperance  Physiology  (Glasgow, 
1877),  thinks  the  word  alcohol  is  “ probably  derived  from  the  Arabic 
kahala,  equivalent  to  the  Hebrew  cachal,  to  paint.” 

t “ 0 thou  invisible  spirit  of  wine,  if  thou  hast  no  name  to  be 
known  by,  let  us  call  thee  Devil !” — Cassio  in  Othello,  Act  ii.  sc.  3. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  DISTILLATION. 


33 


which  the  liquid  still  wrought  amongst  mankind  caused 
the  retention  of  the  name  “ A1  ghole,”  which  in  course  of 
time  has  been  corrupted  to  alcohol. 

“ Kopp  thinks,”  says  Dr.  Baer  (op.  cit.),  “that  the  word 
came  from  the  Arabic  technique,  and  meant  powder  and  to 
pulverize , and  that  the  spirit  drawn  over  the  carbonate  of 
potassium  to  free  it  from  water,  was  first  called  spiritus 
alcalisatus  (alkali  meaning  salt),  and  thereafter  by  trans- 
position spiritus  sAcoiisatus,  which  term  went  into  alcool 
spiritus  vini.  So,  for  example,  does  Libavius  * put  together 
vini  alcool  and  vinum  alcalisatum. 

Says  Dr.  Huss  (op.  cit.),  “When  we  remember  that 
just  at  that  period  the  medical  science  was  at  its  lowest 
ebb,  the  masses  placing  their  trust  especially  in  arcana 
and  universal  remedies,  we  find  it  quite  natural  that  a 
remedy  so  generally  praised  and  so  agreeable  to  the  taste 
should  become  a household  article,  and  from  a medical  Jfhe1®p^ead 
become  a dietetic  necessity, — at  first  on  the  pretext  of  its  ° ° ' 
antidotal  and  strength-giving  properties,  but  soon  also  on 
account  of  its  intoxicating  nature, — in  cot  as  well  as  castle. 

And  with  such  rapidity  and  avidity  did  this  abuse  spread, 
that  by  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  it  was 
common  among  all  classes,  and  chemistry  was  required 
to  find  new  avenues  of  production  in  order  to  satisfy  the 
cravings  for  drink.  And  this  was  found  in  the  distillation 
of  all  kinds  of  grain  and  fruit,  and  lastly  potatoes.” 

* Libavius,  who  died  in  1616,  wrote  the  first  chemical  text-book, 
called  Alchemia. 


D 


34 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


CHAPTER  III. 

PRELIMINARIES  TO  THE  STUDY  OP  MODERN  DRINKING. 

§ 11.  Thus  far  we  have  taken  a brief  survey  of  the  drinking 
customs  among  the  ancients,  of  the  effects  of  the  habits 
and  the  notions  then  prevalent ; and  have  touched  on  the 
discovery  of  distillation,  and  the  spread  of  the  use  of 
alcohol  as  a life-elixir,  as  medicine,  and  as  a beverage. 

But  before  dealing  with  the  effects  of  alcohol  on  man, 
since  distilled,  as  well  as  fermented  drinks  became  common 
in  Europe,  it  will  be  necessary  to  say  something  about 
chemistry  and  physiology  in  order  to  be  intelligible  to  the 
great  masses  who  have  so  little  time  to  keep  abreast  with 
the  progress  of  scientific  knowledge,  but  who  use  their 
narrow  opportunities  with  an  eagerness  and  energy  de- 
serving far  more  respect  and  attention  than  they  receive. 

That  power  of  ancient  thought  over  modern  investiga- 
tion, of  which  we  have  spoken,  is  practically  illustrated 
by  the  history  of  chemistry.*  The  Greek  philosopher 
Aristotle’s  Terminology , for  example — a work  arranging 
and  defining  technical  terms — is  not  yet  displaced  by  any 
other,  and  his  general  theories  still  underlie  modern  realism. 
A writer  on  almost  every  subject,  Aristotle  wrote  also  some 
works  on  plants  and  animals,  and  thus  really  originated 
the  sciences  of  botany  and  physiology ; and  though  these 
works  are  now  regarded  as  among  his  weakest  efforts,  and 
notwithstanding  the  patent  errors  in  them,  they  were, 

* Chemistry,  tliat  branch  of  science  which  treats  of  the  composition, 
decomposition,  and  changes  of  substances  ; chemist , a person  versed 
in  chemistry  ; chemically,  according  to  the  natural  laws  of  chemistry ; 
chemicals,  substances  producing  chemical  effects ; molecule,  an  in- 
divisible compound  of  matter ; atom,  indivisible  ultimate  of  matter. 


PRELIMINARIES  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  MODERN  DRINKING. 


35 


owing  to  the  weight  of  his  great  name,  paramount  over  all 
other  authorities  for  two  thousand  years,  other  investiga- 
tions being  fenced  within  the  lines  he  had  drawn. 

It  was  first  by  the  demonstration  of  the  famous  Irish 
philosopher  and  chemist,  R.  Boyle  (1627—1691),  of  the 
existence  of  chemical  elements,  that  Aristotle’s  “ four 
elements  ” theory  was  finally  and  definitely  disproved. 
Two  of  the  chief  elements  in  all  life-combinations,  nitrogen 
and  oxygen,  were  not  discovered,  however,  till  1772  and 
1774  respectively,  the  first  by  Rutherford  and  the  second 
by  Priestley  and  Scheele.  But  Lavoisier  was  the  first  to 
use  these  discoveries  in  laying  the  foundation  of  a philo- 
sophical science. 

Prom  Boyle’s  time  and  until  the  time  of  Antoine 
Laurent  Lavoisier  (1743—1.794)  it  was  supposed  that  the 
more  complex  compounds  in  the  animal  and  vegetable 
worlds  were  peculiar,  that  is,  foreign  to  the  mineral  or 
inorganic,  and  were  termed  organic  compounds  because 
they  are  highly  complex  substances  which  constitute 
organic  bodies,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  substances 
composing  the  mineral  creation,  which  were  termed  in- 
organic compounds.  Lavoisier  dispelled  this  notion,  and 
showed  that  just  as  oxygen,  by  combustion  of  carbon,  forms 
carbonic  acid,  and,  in  combination  with  hydrogen,  water 
in  external  nature  ; so  the  oxygen  in  the  inhaled  air  pro- 
duces corresponding  changes  in  the  carbon  and  hydrogen 
it  finds  in  the  animal  organism.  While  engaged  in  experi- 
ments which  he  hoped  might  change  the  faint  ray  into  the 
broad  light  of  day,  Lavoisier  was  seized  and  brought  before 
Danton,  who,  when  Lavoisier  begged  for  only  fourteen 
days  more  in  which  to  complete  his  experiments  that  the 
results  might  be  saved  to  mankind,  brutally  exclaimed 
that  Prance  wanted  neither  scholars  nor  chemists,  and 
hurried  him  to  the  guillotine.* 

* “ The  man  is  thought  a knave  or  fool 
Or  bigot  plotting  crime, 

Who,  for  the  advancement  of  his  kind, 

Is  wiser  than  his  time. 

For  him  the  hemlock  shall  distill ; 

For  him  the  axe  be  bared  ; 

For  him  the  gibbet  shall  be  built ; 

For  him  the  stake  prepared. 


The  dis- 
covery of 
chemical 
elements, 
nitrogen 
and  oxygen. 


Lavoisier’s 
discovery  of 
the  basis  of 
oxidation. 


36 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  founda- 
tion of  scien- 
tific physi- 
ology laid  in 
1850,  in  the 
cell  dis- 
covery. 


The  estab- 
lishment of 
organic 
scientific 
physiology 
in  1855. 


Lavoisier  liad  lived,  however,  to  found  the  chemico- 
physiological  science,  indicating  the  intimacy  and  inter- 
dependence existing  between  all  parts  of  the  physical 
universe,  and  in  this  pointing  out  to  us  the  vast  scope  of 
scientific  physiology.  But  immediately  upon  his  death  his 
theories  were  scouted  as  the  dreams  of  a visionary,  and 
even  so  late  as  1835  the  famous  German  physiologist 
Joannes  Muller,  in  his  Handbook  of  Physiology , ridiculed 
them,  saying  that  the  theory  of  water  formation  from 
hydrogen  was  invented  to  support  that  of  combustion,  hut 
afterwards  founded  his  brilliant  chemico-physiological 
school  on  the  basis  laid  by  Lavoisier.* * 

It  was  first  by  the  establishment  through  Schwann — 
one  of  Muller’s  most  competent  disciples — and  Von  Mohl, 
of  the  theory  of  the  cell,  termed  by  Professor  Huxley  the 
“basis  of  life”  (1850-51),  that  a stable  foundation  for 
scientific  physiology  was  laid ; and  the  probable  truth  of 
this  cell  basis  of  life  has  been  demonstrated  by  the  vast 
structure  already  reared  on  that  slender  beginning. 

Thus  physiology,  from  being  regarded  merely  as  the 
science  of  the  organs  and  their  functions  in  animals  and 
plants,  has  become  what  the  name  indicates  (physiology 
— Greek,  johysis,  nature,  and  logos,  discourse)  the  science  of 
nature,  though  its  investigations  of  the  inorganic  world, 
the  plants,  and  even  of  the  animals,  are  daily  becoming 
more  experimental  in  order  to  obtain  clues  for  solving  some 
of  the  manifold  mysteries  of  the  human  organism. 

From  about  1855  dates  the  scientific  researches  in 
organic  f physiology,  and  chemico-physiological  science 
is  therefore  not  quite  thirty  years  old.  In  that  time  it  has 


Him  shall  the  scorn  and  wrath  of  men 
Pursue  with  deadly  aim  ; 

And  malice,  envy,  spite,  and  lies 
Sball  desecrate  his  name. 

But  truth  shall  conquer  at  the  last ; 

For  round  and  round  we  run, 

And  ever  the  right  comes  uppermost 
And  ever  is  justice  done.” 

Charles  Mackay. 

* With  Morveau,  Lavoisier  formed  the  modem  chemical 
nomenclature. 

f The  term  organic  is  now  applied  simply  to  the  compounds  of 
carbon,  irrespective  of  their  complexity  (Baker’s  rhysiology). 


PRELIMINARIES  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  MODERN  DRINKING. 


37 


made  tremendous  progress,  but  has  not  yet  solved  all  the 
mysteries  of  physical  life,  nor  can  it  be  fairly  expected  that 
it  should  have  done  so  within  such  a space,  though  many 
seem  to  have  expected  it. 

§ 12.  Alcohol  has  played  a most  prominent  part  in 
chemical  researches  from  the  first,  and  for  several  reasons. 
In  the  experiments  made  with  alcohol,  when  the  demand 
became  greater  than  could  be  supplied  by  the  original 
methods,  it  was  soon  found  that  alcohol  possessed  the 
most  marked  and  highly  valuable  properties  for  chemical 
experiments,  the  power  of  solving — with  some  notable 
exceptions,  as  we  shall  find  later  on — most  chemical  sub- 
stances, and  of  mixing  in  almost  any  proportions  with 
most  fluids. 

Then  the  demand  made  by  both  drinkers  and  abstainers, 
and  more  and  more  imperatively  made,  for  information  as 
to  the  exact  effects  of  drink  on  the  human  system,  has 
further  stimulated  the  scientific  study  of  alcohol,  so  that 
researches  in  this  direction  have  been  disproportion- 
ately greater  than  those  referring  to  other  chemical 
compounds. 

Until  1828  it  was  supposed  that  there  was  only  one 
kind  of  alcohol  (viz.  ethyl-alcohol — the  name  being  derived 
from  the  first  syllable  in  the  Greek  word  aitlier,  ether,  and 
another  Greek  word,  hyla,  wood,  hence  wood-ether — which 
is  the  name  for  the  spirit  of  wine),  but  in  that  year  Dumas 
and  Peligot  proved  that  the  distilled  spirit  of  wood — - 
known  in  trade  as  methylated  (or  methyl-alcohol,  from 
Greek,  meta,  with,  and  hyla,  wood,  hence  wood-spirit)  spirit, 
discovered  by  Taylor — was  an  alcohol.  In  1839  the  spirit 
extracted  from  the  starch  of  potato  was  found  to  contain 
amyl  very  largely,  and  was  called  amyl- alcohol,  from  the 
Greek  word  amylon,  meaning  fine  meal  or  starch.  Alcohols 
have  since  been  discovered  by  the  hundred,  necessitating 
elaborate  systematizations  of  the  various  series  in  groups 
and  divisions. 

Of  all  these  series  and  groups  of  alcohols  we  are 
chiefly,  if  not  exclusively,  concerned  with  the  first  or  fatty 
series — so  called  because  they  were  looked  upon  as  pro- 
ductive of  fat.  Of  these,  only  two,  ethyl  and  amyl, 
require  extensive  treatment,  though  five  of  these  groups 
are  generally  found  together  in  all  alcohols,  viz. : — 


How  alcohol 
became  a 
prominent 
subject  for 
chemical  in- 
vestigation. 


Discovery  of 
ethyl, 
methyl, 
and  amyl 
alcohols. 


The  great 
number  of 
groups  and 
varieties  of 
alcohols. 


38 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  elements 
of  alcohol. 

Oxygen. 


Hydrogen. 


Carbon. 


Methyl,  or,  according  to  Gerhardt,  in  Greek  numerals,  protyl  or  1st. 

Ethyl,  „ „ „ deutyl  or  2nd. 

Propyl,  „ „ „ trityl  or  3rd. 

Butyl,  „ „ „ tetryl  or  4th. 

Amyl,  „ „ ,,  pentyl  or  5th. 

To  show  the  reader  how  complex  even  this  series  is, 
I may  mention  that  each  of  these  five  groups  contains  several 
kinds,  and  the  number  is  constantly  increasing.  As  an 
example,  Basset,  the  French  chemist,  in  his  great  work  on 
Distillation,  published  sixteen  years  ago,  mentions  : — 

79  kinds  of  methyl. 

17  „ butyl. 

15  „ propyl. 

9 „ amyl. 

7 „ ethyl. 

All  alcohols  * are  composed  of  three  elements,  viz. 
oxygen,  hydrogen,  and  carbon. 

Oxygen  (Greek,  oxys,  sharp,  and  genein,  to  generate, 
so  called  because  originally  supposed  to  form  an  essential 
part  of  acids)  is  a gaseous  element,  without  positive  taste, 
colour,  or  smell,  but  possessing  strong  chemical  attraction, 
and  forming  about  one-sixth  part  of  common  air.  Its  slow 
combination  with  other  elements  results  in  oxidation,  and 
its  sudden  combination  in  combustion. 

Hydrogen  (Greek,  hydoor,  water,  and  genein,  to  gene- 
rate), the  lightest  of  all  known  gaseous  elements,  is  found 
in  small  but  variable  proportion  in  the  air.  Its  increase 
produces  rain,  and  it  forms  about  one-ninth  part  of  water. 
It  is  colourless,  highly  inflammable,  and  forms  an  essential 
part  of  almost  all  organic  bodies. 

Carbon  is  a non-gaseous,  non-metallic  element.  It 
forms  the  chief  element  in  charcoal,  enters  largely  into 
mineral  coals,  and  in  its  pure  crystallized  state  forms  the 
diamond.  It  is  combustible,  and  predominates  in  all 
organic  compounds.  In  its  chemical  properties  it  differs 
from  other  elements  in  this  respect,  that  it  is  capable  of 

* “ Alcohol  is  the  collective  name  of  a class  of  organic  unions 
which  in  their  characteristics  and  modes  of  formation  stand  close  to 
the  ordinary  ethyl-alcohol.  They  are  all  neutral,  but  unite,  when 
freed  from  the  watery  elements,  with  acids,  making  compound  ethers, 
from  which  they  can  again  be  restored  by  the  addition  of  the 
elements  of  water.” — Brockhaus’  Conversation-Lexicon,  vol.  i.  (1SS4) 
Ed.  13,  now  in  process  of  publication. 


PRELIMINARIES  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  MODERN  DRINKING. 


39 


uniting  with  hydrogen  in  various  definite  proportions,  thus 
forming  the  vast  variety  of  hydro -carbons,  and  when  also 
combined  with  oxygen  giving  rise  to  the  carbo-hydrates 
which  are  found  throughout  the  vast  plant  world. 

The  chief  substance  among  the  carbo-hydrates,  from  The  natural 
which  alcohol  is  derived,  is.  sugar — a most  varied  and  aicohois°f 
vastly  extended  substance  not  confined  to  the  plant  world, 
but  spreading  throughout  the  whole  dominion  of  life. 

Scientists  group  sugars  according  to  their  different  views. 

The  simplest  arrangement,  I find,  is  one  of  three  groups  : — 

First  group.—  Glucose  (Greek,  glylcos,  sweet),  which 
comprises  principally  grape  sugar,  fruit  sugar,  and  inosit 
— a sweet  found  in  many  plants,  but  chiefly  belonging  to 
the  muscles  of  the  heart  and  tissues  of  the  lungs  of  the 
higher  animals. 

Second  group. — The  true  sugars,  viz.,  cane-sugar,  lactose 
(Latin,  lac , milk)  or  milk  sugar. 

The  third  group  mostly  contains  cellulose,  or  the  chief 
substance  for  cell  formation,  i.e.  starch,  dextrine  or  starch- 
gum,  and  gluten.  From  all  these  various  sugars  alcohol 
can  be  obtained  ; by  direct  fermentation  from  the  glucose, 
and  by  the  conversion  of  the  second  and  third  groups  into 
glucose,  and  then  into  alcohol.  Alcohol  has  also  been 
obtained,  though  in  small  amounts  only,  by  synthesis,  or 
chemical  composition. 

Fermentation  is  the  general  name  applied  to  the  first  The  meaning 
processes  of  nature’s  taking  to  pieces  some  organic  com-  offermen-SeS 
pound  or  body,  either  for  further  construction  of  organic  tation- 
life-supply ; or  for  dissolution  into  elements — the  principle 
of  life  having  fled. 

Fermentation  (Latin,  fervere,  to  boil)  was  a term  ori- 
ginally used  concerning  all  phenomena  where  a liquid  or 
pasty  mass  was  seen  to  lift  or  bubble,  discharging  gas  with- 
out an  apparent  cause.  Chemically  it  means  a reaction  in 
which  an  organic  compound  under  the  influence  of  a ferment 
changes  inadetermined  sense  at  the  expense  of  the  substance. 

It  is  now  known  that  all  fermentation  is  the  work  of  TIie  nature, 

-l-i-i*  • & j • • action,  and 

so-called  micro-organisms, ' or  active  organisms  so  small  influence  of 

ferments  on 

* Micro-organisms  called  bacteria  at  once  set  feeding  on  the  dead  life- 
tissues ; but  if  excluded,  or  even  through  chemical  processes  stopped 
in  their  enterprises,  fermentation  ceases. 


40 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Date  of  the 
first  dis- 
covery of  the 
real  nature 
of  alcoholic 
ferments. 


Generation 
of  yeast 
fungi. 


that,  as  Professor  Flfigge,  of  Gottingen,  states  (in  his  work 
on  Ferments  and  Micro-parasites,  published  at  Leipsic,  July, 
1883)  : — “ They  stand  on  the  border  of  invisibility,  even 
to  the  eye  armed  with  the  best  optical  means,  and  yet,  with 
their  undreamt-of  spread  and  deeply  invading  activity, 
play  a most  important  role  in  the  household  of  nature  and 
the  existence  of  man.  They  cause  the  destruction  of  life- 
less organic  substances,  occasion  the  oxidation  of  otherwise 
non-oxidable  stuffs.  They  provide  the  plants  continually 
with  their  chlorophyll”  (Greek,  hlooros,  light  green) — “the 
green  colouring  matter  of  the  leaves  and  stalks  of  plants— 
excite  the  most  diverse  fermentations,  and  to  us  they  are 
an  indispensable  means  of  preparing  our  ordinary  foods. 
. . . On  the  other  hand,  they  live  as  parasites  on  our 
cultivated  plants,  and  bring  about  their  degeneration  and 
death.  They  produce  at  times  the  severest  diseases,  both 
in  lower  and  higher  animals,  and  at  times  threaten  man 
with  murderous  epidemics.  ...  In  air,  in  earth,  water, 
everywhere  we  find  these  same  little  organisms ; we  recog- 
nize them  in  our  nearest  surroundings,  in  the  home,  in  the 
food,  as  permanent  companions,  and  incidentally  as  for- 
midable enemies.  Most  of  these  important  little  lives  are 
plants  of  very  elementary  structure  and  the  simplest 
procreative  processes,  but  of  extraordinary  powers  of 
multiplication.  A few  of  them  belong  to  the  lowest 
animals. 

§ 13.  As  we  have  seen,  alcoholic  fermentation,  though 
known  from  prehistoric  times,  was  not  understood.  Later 
it  was  observed  as  limited  to  sweet  substances,  but  the 
secret  of  the  fermentation  processes  has  remained  unsolved 
till  our  day.  The  real  nature  of  the  alcoholic  ferments 
or  yeasts  as  living  fungi,  was  first  discovered  in  1835  by 
Cagniard  Latour,  and  in  1837  the  already  mentioned 
German,  Schwann,  proved  that  the  atmosphere  is  always 
charged  with  ferments.  Since  then  the  microscopic  science, 
headed  by  such  men  as  Kolliker,  Pasteur,  Liebig,  Xiigeli, 
and  others,  has  succeeded  in  revealing  a universe  of  micro- 
scopic plants  and  animals. 

The  yeast  fungi  consist  of  single  cells  generated  by 
spi’outing,  at  one  or  both  ends  of  the  mother-cell,  smaller 
membrane-like  bladders  which,  filling  with  part  of  the 
contents  from  the  mother-cell,  gradually  assume  her  form 


PRELIMINARIES  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  MODERN  DRINKING. 


41 


and  size,  being  divided  from  ber  by  a wall  ; the  procreation 
from  cell  to  cell  by  this  process  is  infinitely  rapid. 

By  alcoholic  fermentation,  glucose  is  dissolved  into  from 
30  to  31  per  cent,  alcohol,  60  per  cent,  carbonic-acid  gas,* 
and  a small  portion  of  other  compounds,  the  chief  of  them 
being  from  2'5  to  5'6  per  cent,  glycerine,  and  0'4  to  O' 7 
succinic  acid,  etc. 

All  fermentations  can  be  divided  into  two  groups : 
the  one  for  maintaining  life,  and  the  other  for  producing 
death  and  dissolution  into  original  elements.  Alcoholic 
fermentation  belongs  to  the  latter  group,  because,  as  far 
as  known,  alcohol  can  never  be  obtained  from  any  living 
organism,  substance,  or  chemic  compounds  containing  life 
■ — death  and  decay  being  necessary  pre-conditions  for  its 
natural  production.  And  as  alcoholic  fermentation  is  a 
saccharine  fermentation,  and  as  saccharine  fluids  are 
inherent  in  all  organic  compounds — saccharine  ferments 
being  spontaneously  present  wherever  saccharine  fluids 
exist — and  as  all  organic  compounds  are  subject  to  the 
law  of  death  and  decay,  it  follows  that  all  organic  sub- 
stances, in  a certain  proportion  to  their  saccharine  con- 
tents, may  be  productive  of  alcohol,  i.e.  be  alcoholizable. 
And  these  facts  have  been  practically  demonstrated  in  the 
various  domains  of  nature  by  recent  chemical  experiments, 
though  the  alcohol  discovered  has  been  small  in  quantity, 
owing  probably  to  its  volatility  and  proneness  to  oxidation 
and  further  dissolution. 

Thus,  for  example,  we  are  told  by  the  Trench  scientist 
Muntz,  that  he  had  found  traces  of  alcohol  in  water,  and 
that  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  the  carburetted  body 
indicated  by  Boussingault  and  De  Saussure  as  being 

* Carbonic-acid  gas  forms  0'03  to  0'06  per  cent,  of  the  atmo- 
sphere. It  streams  forth  from  active  volcanoes,  as  well  as  from  many 
fissures  in  the  earth,  e.g.  the  Dog  Cave  at  Naples,  the  vapour-  caves 
at  Pyrmont,  Yichy,  Hauterive,  the  Death  Valley  in  Java,  etc. 
Carbonic-acid  gas  is  generally  formed  in  plant  or  animal  decom- 
positions ; for  instance,  wood,  tallow,  oil,  are  changed  through 
atmospheric  combustion  into  carbonic  acid  and  water.  Where  organic 
substances  are  richly  strewn  in  the  ground  there  is  also  much 
carbonic  acid,  hence  the  presence  of  so  much  of  this  deadly  gas  in 
coal  mines,  etc.  Animals  expirate  carbonic  acid  gas,  because  through 
oxidation,  organic  substances  are  solved  into  carbonic  acid  gas  and 
water. 


The  lethal 
nature  of 
alcoholic 
fermenta- 
tion. 


Saccharine 
fermenta- 
tion explains 
the  traces  of 
alcohol  found 
in  water,  air, 
and  earth. 


42 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Alcohol  in 
bread. 


present  in  the  atmosphere  was  alcohol.  And  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe  this  to  be  a fact,  there  being 
always  in  the  air,  as  in  the  water,  saccharine  compounds. 
So  also,  when  we  are  told  that  there  is  alcohol  in  the  soil, 
we  have  reason  to  . credit  it.  We  know  the  soil  consists 
chiefly  of  the  material  residue  of  organic  and  inorganic 
decomposition,  and  of  course  in  earth,  as  in  air  and  water, 
alcohol  is  a product  of  the  decompositions  of  saccharine 
particles. 

May  not  the  carbonic-acid  gas,  or  deadly  vapour  found 
especially  in  coal  mines,  be  a residue  in  no  small  degree  of 
the  carbonic-acid  gas  formed  in  far  distant  ages  by  the 
alcoholic  fermentation  of  the  organic  matter  which  has 
been  through  succeeding  ages  turned  into  coal  ? And 
may  it  not  be  that  the  alcohol  obtained  through  dry  dis- 
tillation— i.e.  through  heat  and  exclusion  of  air — is  to 
some  extent  only  the  released  product  of  natural  ancient 
fermentations  P * 

In  the  preparation  of  bread  the  yeast  changes  the 
starch  into  dextrine  or  grape  sugar.  In  the  further 
fermentation  the  grape  sugar  changes  about  2 per  cent,  of 
the  flour  into  carbonic  acid  and  alcohol ; the  carbonic- acid 
gas  causes  the  sponginess  of  the  dough,  the  alcohol  in  the 
baking  evaporates.  Bread  kept  for  some  days  in  a warm 
room  through  the  action  of  spontaneous  ferment  re-acquires 
alcohol  from,  according  to  Bolas,  012  to  032  per  cent., 
and  if  left  longer  it  is  soured  by  the  action  of  acetic 
ferments  into  sour  bread,  f 

* “ Axcohox.  prom  Smoke. — The  latest  instance  of  the  utilization 
of  waste  products  is  that  effected  at  Elk  Kapids,  Michigan,  with  the 
gaseous  matter  given  forth  by  a blast  furnace  in  which  are  manu- 
factured fifty  tons  of  charcoal  iron  a day.  In  the  case  to  which  we 
refer,  the  vast  amount  of  smoke  from  the  pits,  formerly  lost  in  the 
air,  is  now  turned  to  account  by  being  driven  by  suction  or  draught 
into  stills  surrounded  by  cold  water,  the  results  of  the  condensation 
being — first,  acetate  of  lime;  second,  methyl-alcohol;  third,  tar; 
the  fourth  part  produces  gas,  which  is  consumed  under  the  boilers. 
Each  cord  of  wood  produces  29,000  cubic  feet  of  smoke,  2,900,000 
feet  of  smoke  handled  in  the  twenty-four  hours  producing  12,000  lbs. 
of  acetate  of  lime,  200  gallons  of  alcohol,  and  25  lbs.  of  tar.” — Louis- 
ville Medical  News,  March  17,  1883. 

f “ Some  New  York  bakers  are,  it  appears,  exercising  their 
minds  with  the  reflection  that  about  one  thousand  gallons  of  alcohol 
are  daily  wasted  in  the  ovens  of  the  Empire  City,  and  they  have 


PRELIMINARIES  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  MODERN  DRINKING. 


43 


But  alcohol  has  also  been  detected  in  the  wastes  of 
living  organisms.  Gutzeit  claims  to  have  found  ethyl  and 
methyl  alcohols  mixed  with  butyric  and  acetic  ethers  in 
growing  plants — parsnips,  and  in  Antliriscus  cerefolium  and 
Seracleum  giganteum  and  other  plants. 

Alcohol  as  a purely  natural  product  is  not  confined  to 
the  plant  world.  According  to  attested  results  of  ex- 
periments by  Becamp,  alcohols  and  acids  ai’e  constant  and 
immediate  outcomes  of  animal  death,  so  that  very  shortly 
after  death  takes  place  alcoholic  fluids  are  obtainable  from 
the  tissues. 

But  it  is  claimed  that  alcohol  is  to  be  found  not  only 
in  dead  but  even  in  living  animals.  Marcownicoff  detected 
alcohol  in  the  urine  of  diabetic  patients,  and  recently  it 
has  been  proved  that  in  the  excrements  of  all  healthy  per- 
sons alcohol  is  traceable,  and  the  reason  is  not  very  far  to 
seek.  The  glucose  in  the  body  is  acted  upon  by  the  always 
spontaneously  present  ferments  of  glucose;  alcohol  and 
carbonic  acid  must  be  the  result. 

§ 14.  As  alcohol  is  one  of  the  chief  products  in  the  first 
chemical  combination  of  organic  dissolution,  so  it  is  but 
natural  that  it  should  possess  strong  potential  tendencies 
towards  further  dissolutions,  and  as  oxidation  is  the  chief 
agent  in  both  solution  and  dissolution,  so  alcohol  has  a 

been  making  inquiries  as  to  how  they  may  save  the  spirit.  It  is  a 
fact  that  wherever  yeast  fei’mentation  is  allowed  to  set  in,  there 
alcohol  is  produced,  and  that  it  is  quite  possible,  by  condensing  the 
vapours  from  a batch  of  bread  in  the  process  of  baking,  to  recover 
quite  a considerable  quantity  of  alcohol.  But  the  New  York  bakers 
are  would-be  plagiarists.  Some  years  ago  a company  was  started  in 
London  to  make  bread  and  recover  the  alcohol,  but  owing  partly  to 
the  bad  arrangements  adopted,  and  partly  to  the  opposition  of  rival 
bakers,  the  scheme  was  a failure.  The  rival  bakers  adopted  the 
simple  expedient  of  announcing  that  their  bread  was  sold  “ with  all 
the  gin  in  it ; ” and  strange  to  say  they  obtained  the  public  custom, 
although  there  was  no  more  alcohol  in  their  bread  than  in  that  made 
by  the  company.  It  is  quite  possible  to  obtain  a small  quantity  of 
alcohol  from  the  vapours  arising  from  a baker’s  oven,  but  any 
attempt  to  kill  two  birds  with  one  stone  in  this  case  results  in  the 
practical  escape  of  both ; for  if  the  bakery  is  converted  into  a 
distillery  the  bi'ead  is  spoilt,  and  the  spirits  are  scarcely  worth  the 
trouble,  seeing  that  they  can  be  made  cheaply  enough  by  legitimate 
means,  and  any  attempt  to  make  them  illegitimately  would  bring  on 
the  baker  all  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  Excise.” — Echo, 
January  26,  1884. 


Alcohol  in 
living  organ- 
isms, plants, 
and  animals. 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


44 


The  ten- 
dency of 
alcohol  to 
decompose 
into  ele- 
ments. 


strong  attraction  to  oxidation,  and  rapidly  goes  over  from 
one  combination  to  another,  gradually  freeing  the  atoms 
until  finally  only  the  original  elements  of  its  composition 
— namely,  oxygen,  carbon,  and  hydrogen — remain,  set  free 
to  enter  into  new  combinations. 

The  irresistible  tendency  of  alcohol  to  dissolve  things 
into  their  elements,  by  means  of  oxidation  and  hydration, 
is  shown  in  the  very  process  of  distillation,  for  notwith- 
standing the  elaborate  precautions  to  obtain  what  is  called 
pure  alcohol — we  see  the  alcohol  itself  proceeding — some 
of  it — into  further  stages  of  dissolution  by  freeing  one  or 
more  atoms  belonging  to  alcoholic  compounds,  such  as 
acetic  ethers  and  aldehydes. 

As  an  example  of  the  successively  rapid  changes  towards 
absolute  dissolution  which  alcohols  pass  through  if  free  to 
do  so,  I may  cite  changes  peculiar  to  ethyl-alcohol,  the 
most  common,  least  intoxicating,  and  with  which  we  are 
most  concerned.  Its  chemical  formula  C2H60,  or  two 
parts  carbon,  six  parts  hydrogen,  and  one  part  oxygen, 
easily  changes.  H being  freed,  we  have  acetic  ether ; 
another  H being  removed,  there  is  aldehyde.  With  this 
result,  double  the  0 and  we  have  acetic  acid  or  spirit  of 
vinegar,  etc.  (any  alcoholic  drink  exposed  only  for  a short 
time  to  the  air  changes  in  part  into  these  compounds). 
All  acids  substitute  an  O for  H.,  thus  : — 


Various  uses 
for  alcohols. 


Methylic  ... 

...  ch4o 

Formic 

ch,o2 

E thy  lie  ... 

...  C2H60 

Acetic 

...  c2h4o2 

Propylic  ... 

...  c3h8o 

Propionic  ... 

...  C3H602 

Butylic  ... 

...  c4h10o 

Butyric 

C4Hs02 

Amy  lie 

...  c5h12o 

Valeric 

...  C5H10O2 

Caproylic 

...  c6HI4o 

Caproic 

C6H1202 

§ 15.  Methyl  and  ethyl  alcohols  have  been  found  useful 

invariousways  in  civilization — methyl  in  particular,  because 
of  its  comparative  cheapness.  Methyl-alcohol,  as  methy- 
lated spirit  (which  is  ethyl-alcohol  mixed  with  methyl- 
alcohol  to  such  an  extent  as  to  spoil  it  for  drinking) , is  very 
extensively  used  as  varnish,  in  methyl-aniline  colouring,  as 
oil  for  spirit  lamps,  and  for  dissolving  resin  and  fatty  sub- 
stances generally,  essential  oils,  ethers,  alkaloids,  most 
organic  acids  and  certain  of  their  salts.  It  enters  largely 
into  the  manufacture  of  candles,  india-rubber,  and  collodion, 
in  which  shape  it  is  specially  used  by  photographers,  for 


PRELIMINARIES  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  MODERN  DRINKING. 


45 


aromatic  waters,  cleansing  of  glass,  etc.  Pettenkofer,  the 
Munich  chemist  and  physiologist,  discovered  some  years 
ago  how,  by  means  of  alcoholic  vapours,  to  restore  faded 
oil  paintings.  Aldehyde  is  principally  used  in.  silver 
amalgamation  on  glass. 

§ 16.  But  in  nothing-  is  alcohol  more  used  than  in 
intoxicating  drinks,  in  all  of  which  it  forms  the  chief 
intoxicating  principle.  The  alcohol  is  obtained  from  grapes, 
whence  by  fermentation  wine,  and  by  distillation  of  wine, 
wine  alcohol,  which,  containing  about  30  per  cent,  of  water, 
gives  the  true  brandies  ; tree  fruits — apples,  pears,  peaches, 
etc.,  which,  by  fermentation,  produce  ciders,  and  whose 
distillations  give  apple,  pear,  and  peach  spirit,  and  whose 
dilution  by  water  gives  the  fruit  brandies.  By  similar 
processes,  currant,  lemon,  and  other  brandies  are  obtained. 
But  the  most  prominent  sources  of  alcohol  are  potatoes, 
sugar  refuse,  and  grains ; of  the  latter  especially  barley, 
rye,  and  maize,  because  of  the  abundance  of  starch  which 
they  contain,  which  by  diastatic  ferment  is  turned  into 
dextrine,  then  grape  sugar,  then  spirit. 

The  process  of  dextrine  development  in  grain  is  called 
the  malting,  by  which  the  grain,  first  being  caused  to 
sprout  in  warn!  moisture,  is  then  slowly  heated  till  the  life 
principle  is  extinct. 

The  spirit  from  sugar  refuse  is  called  rum  ; that  from 
potatoes,  barley,  rye,  and  maize,  whiskies  and  gins.  The 
gins  are  flavoured  with  strong  aromatics,  especially  j uniper 
berries.  Barley  is  chiefly  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
beers.  And  beer  is  a comparatively  weak  alcoholic  drink 
in  a state  of  second  fermentation,  generally  flavoured  with 
hop. 

Fermented  milk  is  called  koumiss,  and  in  Russia,  by 
distillation  of  koumiss,  a brandy  called  araca  asai s obtained. 
Arrack  is  a brandy  obtained  from  rice  ; absinthe  a cordial 
of  alcohol  flavoured  with  wormwood  ; tafia  is  a brandy 
from  molasses,  and  kirsch  a brandy  from  the  blackberry. 


Sources  of 
the  alcohols 
found  iu 
drinks. 


Malting. 


Various 

alcoholic 

drinks. 


46 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Universality 
of  liquor 
adulteration. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ADULTERATIONS. 

§ 17.  All  adulteration  is  induced  by  desire  for  profit,  and 
therefore  its  unscrupulousness  is  limited  only  by  tbe  pro- 
bability of  success.  Detection  and  consequent  loss  is  tbe 
only  thing  the  adulterator  fears.  When  we  remember 
these  facts,  together  with  the  marvellous  adulterability  * 
of  alcoholic  liquors,  we  can  no  longer  wonder  at  its  vast 
extension,  and  the  employment  therein  of  all  kinds  of 
poisons. 

The  chief  means  of  all  kinds  of  liquor  adulterations  is, 
of  course,  water,  because  while  it  costs  nothing,  it  gives 
a greatly  increased,  though  fictitious,  value  to  the  drink 
by  increasing  its  volume.  That  water  makes  the  liquor 
less  harmful  is  no  justification  for  its  employment,  and 
those  who  do  justify  it  ignore  the  moral  character  of  the 
act,  at  the  same  time  that  they  tacitly  imply  the  harmful 
consequences  from  drinking  liquor.  But  we  find  also  our 
strongest  poisons,  such  as  strychnia,  stramonium,  sulphuric 
acid,  oil  of  clove,  bitter  almond,  sugar  of  lead,  used  together 
with  innocent  mixtures,  all  of  which  in  certain  proportions 

* In  his  work  on  Alcohol  and  its  Physical  Effects  (New  York, 
1874),  Colonel  Dudley  says — 

“ With  few  exceptions  the  entire  liquor  traffic  of  the  world  is  not 
only  a fraud,  but — perhaps  without  all  the  dealers  being  aware  of  the 
fact — it  amounts  to  a system  of  drugging  and  poisoning.  The 
business  of  making  adulterated  liquors  has  been  so  simplified  that 
any  novice  who  knows  how  to  make  a punch  or  a cocktail  can  learn 
in  a short  time  to  make  any  kind  of  liquor  that  will  pass  muster  with 
nine-tenths  of  the  community.” 

Bouchardat  says,  “ The  wine  sold  by  retailers  consists  of  alcohol, 
colouring  matters,  water,  and  a very  small  quantity  of  natural  wine.” 


ADULTERATIONS. 


47 


are  disguisable  in  alcohol,  as  well  as  substitutable  for  it. 

Alfred  Fournier,  in  his  celebrated  article  in  the  New  Dic- 
tionary of  Medical  and  Surgical  Practice  (Paris,  1864),  says 
of  thirty-six  samples  of  spirits  and  brandy  retailed  at  low 
price  in  the  Faubourg  of  Rouen,  and  seized  by  the  police, 
twenty-one  contained  sulphuric  acid,  and  five  acetic  acid.  Enumeration 
And  Dr.  Parkes  ( Hygiene , London,  1878)  gives  no  less  than  °Jf0™'Ij™ll5se(] 
nineteen  poisons  in  his  formidable  table  of  adulterations. 

Among  these  are  ferrous  sulphate,  sulphuric  acid,  essentia 
bina,  colocynth,  colchicin,  cocculus  indicus,  strychnine, 
tobacco,  copper,  and  lead. 

A “Practical  Man”  (London,  1826),  in  giving  recipes 
for  adulteration,  says  that  in  a certain  adulteration  of  brandy 
other  “ fermentable  matters  are  added  to  the  must  before 
the  fermentation  has  taken  place  ; ” and  of  the  depravity  of 
another  adulteration  he  adds,  “ The  acid  used  in  combina- 
tion of  counterfeit  brandy  is  commonly  called  spirit  of 
nitre,  and  some  distillers  use  quicklime  in  rectifying  their 
spirits.”  In  1829  another  work,  very  able  and  thorough 
for  its  time,  entitled  Wine  and  Spirit  Adulteration  Un- 
masked, tells  us  that  “ spirits  of  wine  are  generally  made 
from  the  fruits  and  refuse  of  all  other  spirits  and  compounds 
put  together  and  distilled.” 

Here  is  a short  simple  recipe  for  making  old  Jamaica 
rum : — 

“ Sixty  gallons  proof  spirit  and  one  pound  of  rum 
essence  ” (rum  essence  is  composed  from  acetic  ether, 
saltpetre,  wine  ether,  butyric-acid  ether,  birch-oil  tincture, 
oak  bark,  etc.,  mixed).  Very  simple,  but  just  think  of 
drinking  corn  whisky  while  supposing  it  to  be  Jamaica 
rum  ! Dr.  Riant  gives  a recipe  for  making  rum  of  new- 
scraped  leather,  oak  bark,  oil  of  clove,  tar,  and  molasses 
alcohol. 

§ 18.  The  liquors  most  adulterated  are  the  wines,  and  Reasons  for 
for  many  reasons.  The  art  of  vinification  to  even  the  of  wines!10" 
most  skilled  and  honest  wine-makers  is  a very  difficult 
science.  The  accidents  of  manufacture,  such  as  season, 
fervidity  of  fermentation,  prolonged  access  of  air,  and 
numerous  others,  materially  affect  the  colours  and  flavours 
of  the  wines,  and,  indeed,  the  present  public  taste — long 
accustomed  to  only  same-tasting  wines,  because  of  their 
adulterations — would  have  nothing  to  do  with  pure  wines 


48 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Rhine  wine 
adultera- 
tions. 


Port  wine 
adultera- 
tions. 


which  wanted  the  familiar  adulterated  flavours.  Thus 
even  the  would-be  honest  wine-dealer  has  hardly  any  alter- 
native to  the  selling  of  adulterated  wines ; and  chemical 
science  has  discovered  abundant  means  and  methods  both 
for  adulteration  and  for  artificial  manufacture. 

We  find  that  wine  adulteration  commences  from  the 
moment  the  fruit  is  gathered.  Says  Dr.  Thudichum,  in  his 
lecture  on  Wines  (London,  1869) — 

“ Spanish,  Portuguese,  and  Drench  wines  of  the  South 
are  plastered ; that  is  to  say,  plaster  of  Paris  is  dusted  over 
the  grapes  immediately  after  they  are  gathered,  or  while 
they  are  in  the  press,  or  while  they  are  in  a state  of 
must.” 

Mr.  Walter  McGee,  under  the  nom  de  plume  “ Pedro 
Verdad,”  wrote  A Booh  about  Sherry  (London,  1876),  a 
trenchant  essay  on  sherry  adulteration  and  the  incapacity 
displayed  by  the  appointed  Government  analysts  for  its 
detection,  writes  the  following  concerning  the  Rhine 
wines : — 

“ In  the  district  of  Neuwied,  things  have  come  to  a 
sorry  pass  indeed.  The  evil  has  been  imported  by  wine- 
dealers  from  abroad,  who  come  in  number's  every  autumn, 
and,  whether  the  vintage  promises  well  or  ill,  buy  up  the 
growing  grapes,  and  make  from  them  five  or  six  times  the 
quantity  of  wine  which  the  press  of  an  honest  vintner 
would  produce.  The  reader  will  ask,  ‘How  is  that 
possible  ? ’ Here  is  the  explanation. 

“ During  the  vintage,  at  night,  when  the  moon  has 
gone  down,  boats  glide  over  the  Rhine,  freighted  with  a 
soapy  substance  manufactured  from  potatoes  and  called 
by  its  owners  sugar.  This  stuff  is  thrown  into  the  vats 
containing  the  must ; water  is  introduced  from  pumps  and 
wells,  or,  in  case  of  need,  from  Father  Rhine  himself. 
When  the  brewage  has  fermented  sufficiently,  it  is  strained 
and  carried  away.” 

§ 19.  For  some  centuries  past,  ports  and  sherries  have 
been  the  principal  wanes  drunk  in  England.  Before  the 
Select  Committee  on  Wines  (House  of  Commons,  1852), 
Cyrus  Redding  stated  that  though  the  annual  export  of  port 
wine  amounted  to  only  twenty  thousand  pipes,  no  less  than 
sixty  thousand  were  consumed ; a goodly  amount  being 
concocted  out  of  Cape  wines,  cider,  and  brandies,  etc.,  most 


ADULTERATIONS. 


49 


of  tbe  spurious  ports  being  concocted  in  the  London  docks, 
presumably  for  exportation. 

Mr.  Yizetelly,  the  British  Wine  Commissioner  to  the 
Vienna  Exposition,  writes  in  his  Wines  of  the  World 
(London,  1875)  : “ Nowadays  spurious  port  is  produced  on 
a large  scale  at  Tarragona,  in  Spain,  which  imports  con- 
siderable quantities  of  dried  elderberries,  presumably  for 
deepening  the  colour,  if  not  actually  for  adulterating  the 
so-called  ‘ Spanish  Reds.’  A couple  of  years  ago  I tasted 
scores  of  samples  of  fictitious  ports  in  evei’y  stage  of  early 
and  intermediate  development,  rough,  fruity,  fiery,  rounded 
and  tawny,  in  the  cellars  of  some  of  the  largest  manu- 
facturers at  Cette,  and  saw  some  thousands  of  pipes  of 
'converted  Rousillon  wines  lying  ready  for  shipment  to 
England  and  various  northern  countries,  as  vintage  port.” 

Mr.  Shaw,  in  his  Wine,  the  Vine , and  the  Cellar 
(London,  1863),  relates  this  illustrative  anecdote,  told  by 
Lord  Palmerston  to  a deputation  waiting  upon  him  : — 

“ I remember  my  grandfather,  Lord  Pembroke,  when 
he  placed  wine  before  his  guests,  said,  ‘ There,  gentlemen, 
is  my  champagne,  my  clai’et,  etc.  I am  no  great  judge, 
and  1 give  you  these  on  the  authority  of  my  wine  merchant ; 
but  I can  answer  for  my  port,  for  I made  it  myself.’  ” 

Mr.  Vizetelly  ( op . cit .)  says  about  sherry  : “ The  wine 
which  forms  the  bulk  of  the  better  class  of  sherries 
imported  into  England  is  of  the  third  quality,  and  is 
known  as  raya.  In  its  natural  state  it  is  sound  and  dry, 
of  a pale  greenish  yellow  colour,  and  has  no  particular 
character.  Much  of  the  low-class  sherry  shipped  from 
Cadiz  is  blended,  moreover,  with  poor  white  wine  from  the 
Contado  de  Niebla.  When  the  wine  is  designed  for  ship- 
ment, it  is  sweetened  and  flavoured  to  disguise  its 
deficiencies  of  taste,  and  coloured  in  order  that  it  may  be 
palmed  off  as  old  and  matui’ed — colouring  matter  and 
reddish-brown  liquid  strongly  charged  with  sulphate  of 
potash — then  to  prevent  fresh  fermentation,  proof  spirits 
are  added.” 

Mr.  Walter  Burton,  late  of  Her  Majesty’s  Customs, 
asserts  that  of  many  thousand  tests  which  he  had  made  at 
the  London  Customs  House,  the  average  showed  37  per 
cent,  of  proof  spirit,  while  some  exhibited  as  much  as 
50  pre  cent. 

E 


Sherry 

adultera- 

tions. 


50 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Times'  leader 
(Dec.  10, 
1873)  on 
sherry 
adulteration. 


Mr.  James  Denman,  in  his  pamphlet,  Wine  as  it  should 
be  (London,  1866),  cites  the  following  significant  advertise- 
ment from  a prominent  London  morning  journal,  Septem- 
ber 29th,  1866  : — 

“ Partner  Wanted. — A practical  distiller,  having  been 
experimenting  for  the  last  seventeen  years,  can  now  produce 
a fair  port  and  sherry  by  fermentation,  without  a drop  of 
grape  juice,  and  wishes  a party  with  from  £2000  to 
£3000  capital,  to  establish  a house  in  Hamburg  for  the 
manufacture  of  his  wines.  Has  already  a good  connection 
in  business.” 

And  a writer  on  Wine  and  the  Wine  Trade  in  the 
Edinburgh  Review  (July,  1867)  says — 

“ All  the  refuse  wine,  red  or  white,  old  samples,  heeltaps  ’ 
of  bottles,  half-tasted  glasses,  are  thrown  down  and  passed 
away  into  the  collecting  barrel — just  as  the  cook  throws 
any  kind  of  meat  and  soup  liquor  into  his  stock-pot — and 
with  the  addition  of  a little  spirit  and  colouring  matter,  it 
comes  out  very  good  eighteen- shilling  port.  Mr.  Shaw  has 
shown  ns  how  ‘ curious  old  brown  sherry  ’*  is  made  already 
by  the  aid  of  ‘ the  doctor.’  ” 

In  a leading  article  in  the  Times  (December  10th,  1873) 
we  read : — 

“ The  correspondence  which  we  have  lately  published 
on  the  manufacture  of  the  liquid  sold  in  this  country  under 
the  name  of  ‘ Sherry,’  seems  calculated  to  shake  even  the 
robust  faith  of  the  British  householder  in  the  merits  of  his 
favourite  beverage.  The  correspondence  had  its  origin  in 
the  fate  of  an  unfortunate  gentleman  who  was  found,  by 
the  verdict  of  a coroner’s  jury,  to  have  died  from  an  over- 
dose of  alcohol,  taken  in  four  gills  of  sherry ; and,  as  it 
proceeded,  it  gradually  unfolded  some  of  the  mysteries  of 
the  processes  by  which  the  product  called  sherry  is  obtained. 
In  the  first  place,  it  seems  that  the  grapes,  before  being 
trodden  and  pressed,  are  dusted  over  with  a large  quantity 
of  plaster  of  Paris  (sulphate  of  lime),  an  addition  which 
removes  the  tartaric  and  malic  acids  from  the  juice,  and 
leaves  sulphuric  acid  in  their  stead,  so  that  the  1 must  ’ 
contains  none  of  the  bitartrate  of  potash  which  is  the 
natural  salt  of  wine,  but  sulphate  of  potash  instead,  usually 

* At  present  termed  by  publicans  the  drink  of  all  nations,  and 
not  limited  to  wines  by  any  means. 


ADULTERATIONS. 


51 


in  the  proportion  of  about  two  ounces  to  a gallon.  Besides 
this,  the  common  varieties  of  ‘ must  ’ receive  an  additional 
pound  of  sulphuric  acid  to  each  butt,  by  being  impregnated 
with  the  fumes  of  five  ounces  of  sulphur.  When  fermenta- 
tion is  complete,  the  wine  may  contain  from  a minimum  of 
about  14,  to  a maximum  of  27'5  per  cent,  of  proof  spirit; 
but  it  is  not  yet  in  a state  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the 
English  market,  neither  can  it  be  trusted  to  travel  without 
undergoing  secondary  fermentation  or  other  changes.  It 
is  therefore  treated  with  a variety  of  ingredients  to  impart 
colour,  sweetness,  and  flavour ; and  it  receives  an  addition 
of  sufficient  brandy  to  raise  the  alcoholic  strength  of  the 
mixture  to  35  per  cent,  as  a minimum,  or  in  some  cases 
to  as  much  as  59  per  cent,  of  proof  spirit.  When  all  this 
has  been  done,  it  is  shipped  in  the  wood  for  England, 
where  it  is  either  bottled  as  ‘ pure  ’ wine,  or  is  subjected 
to  such  further  sophistications  as  the  ingenuity  of  dealers 
may  suggest. 

“ Surely  it  would  not  exceed  the  duty  of  a Government 
which  has  done  so  much  to  protect  the  population  from 
disease,  by  enforcing  sanitary  regulations — drainage,  house- 
cleaning, etc. — to  interfere  vigorously  and  repress  this 
abominable  traffic.” 

§ 20.  All  wines  intended  for  export  are  “ fortified  ” — that 
is,  alcoholized — on  the  pretext  that  only  by  this  method  can 
they  be  prevented  from  souring,  a questionable  statement 
when  asserted  of  any  well-made  and  matured  wine.  It  is, 
however,  accepted  as  a truth  by  the  various  European 
Governments,  and  naturally  the  cheapest  stuff  that  will 
answer  the  purpose  is  used  in  this  fortification. 

Mr.  Vizetelly  says,  “ It  is  notorious  that  Spaniards  are 
not  dram-drinkers,  yet  for  a long  time  Spain  imported 
annually  some  1,600,000  gallons  of  British  spirits. 

“ It  is  true  that  it  does  so  no  longer,  but  simply  because 
Prussia,  where  it  markets  to-day,  furnishes  it  with  a 
cheaper  article  distilled  from  potatoes  and  beetroot.  It  is 
notorious,  moreover,  that  spirit  of  the  same  low  class  is 
extensively  used  in  England  to  fortify  port  wine  in  bond. 
The  Custom  returns  give  the  total  number  of  ‘operations,’ 
as  fortifying  of  wine  in  the  docks  is  delicately  termed,  at 
820  for  the  year  1872.” 

The  Daily  Telegraph  (September  12,  1883),  in  a leader 


Daily  Tele- 
graph leader 


52 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


(Sept.  12, 
1883)  on 
Spanish  wine 
manufac- 
tured from 
raw  German 
spirits. 


The  Daily 
News  Madrid 
correspon- 
dent on  the 
proposed 
wine-adul- 
teration 
treaty  with 
Spain. 


Ex-Custom 
officer  W. 
Burton’s 
expose  of 
wine-making 
from  raw 
potato  spirit 
in  London 
docks,  under 
Government 
supervision. 


on  the  political  relations  between  Germany  and  Spain, 
says — • 

“Not  only  does  Spain  in  politics  approach  Germany: 
in  their  commercial  negotiations  her  statesmen  have  made 
many  concessions  to  Prince  Bismarck.  The  Peninsula 
furnishes  a kind  of  medium  between  the  raw  alcohol  of 
Germany  and  the  palates  of  the  wine-drinkers  of  the 
world.  Spain  imports  vast  quantities  of  spirits  from  the 
North,  mixes  them  with  her  own  wines,  exports  them  as 
genuine  products  of  her  soil  to  France,  wThere,  stamped 
with  the  names  of  famous  localities  or  firms,  they,  like  the 
Tricolor,  make  the  tour  of  the  world.  This  French  demand 
for  Spanish  wines  so  steadily  increases,  owing  to  the 
ravages  of  the  phylloxera,  that  out  of  the  produce  of  her 
own  soil  Spain  could  not  possibly  meet  the  demand.  Hence 
the  commercial  importance  of  her  friendship  for  Germany.” 

This  information  as  to  the  character  of  Spanish  wines 
reads  curiously  side  by  side  with  the  statements,  in  the 
London  morning  papers  (December  7,  1883),  that  England 
is  about  to  conclude  a commercial  treaty  with  Spain,  the 
nature  of  which  can  be  judged  from  these  innocent 
comments  of  the  Daily  News'  Madrid  correspondent : 
“Even  the  most  extreme  pretensions  of  the  Spanish 
wine-growers  only  aimed  at  getting  thirty-two  or  thirty- 
four  degrees  for  the  ultimate  limit  of  the  one  shilling  duty 
in  a definitive  treaty  some  day,  and  that  limit  would 
include  fortified  wdnes  as  well  as  natural.”  Thus  not 
only  are  there  to  be  special  facilities  for  importing, 
and  poisoning  the  English  with  vile  German  whisky 
flavoured  with  Spanish  wines  ; but  apparently  a premium 
is  to  be  offered  to  Spain  for  declining  the  less  vile  but 
costlier  British  spirits  for  German,  which,  excepting 
under  the  guise  of  Spanish  wines,  would  not  be  drunk  in 
this  country  ! 

It  was  but  a few  years  ago  that  the  ex-Custom  officer, 
Mr.  Walter  Burton,  drew  public  attention  to  the  fortifying 
of  wines  in  the  Custom  wine-houses  and  under  the  actual 
superintendence  of  Government  officials. 

“ A wine-jobber,”  he  remarks,  “ having,  say,  1000 
gallons  of  wine,  can  add  thereto  100  gallons  of  spirit, 
makiug  a total  of  1100  gallons  of  wine,  thereby  converting 
in  a few  minutes  200  gallons  of  crude  potato  spirit  diluted 


ADULTERATIONS. 


53 


■with  London  •water,  and  costing  about  one  shilling  per 
gallon,  into,  it  may  be,  a ‘ special  sherry  ’ or  ‘ vintage  port.’ 
There  is,  as  far  as  I am  aware,  no  record  kept  of  the 
quantity  of  spirit  so  turned  into  wine ; but  seeing-  that  a 
large  staff  of  officers  are  continuously  employed  in  super- 
intending such  operations,  the  increase  to  our  stock  in 
wines  from  this  source  must  be  considerable.  It  is  for  the 
public  to  say  whether  this  system  of  manufacturing  wine 
at  their  expense  is  to  be  continued.  It  is  bad  enough  to 
have  flavoured  spirit  and  water  imported  into  this  country 
under  the  guise  of  wine,  but  it  is  still  more  objectionable 
to  pay  public  officers  to  legalize  the  manufacture  of  such 
compounds  in  our  own  docks  and  warehouses  to  the 
manifest  injury  of  the  revenue  and  of  the  public  health.” 
Such  sherry  is  what  is  had  “at  taverns  and  refreshment 
bars  at  public  dinners,  and  which  figures  on  the  wine  list 
of  the  majority  of  hotels  at  six  shillings  the  bottle.” 

The  Licensed  Victualler  s Simple  Guide  (London,  1878), 
under  head  of  Fortifying  says,  “ It  frequently  happens 
that  wines  left  in  the  docks  a long  time  become  what  is 
termed  ‘pricked’  (a  tendency  to  acidity).  Indeed,  they 
often  reach  England  in  such  condition  ; in  this  case  it  is 
well  to  have  them  racked  on  to  spirit.  Any  merchant  or 
agent  can  superintend  the  operation.  When  port  is 
absolutely  sour,  it  is  good  to  drop  a pound  of  prepared 
chalk  into  the  pipe,  and  allow  it  to  remain  three  days ; 
then  fine  with  eggs,  and,  when  bright,  rack  off  with  the 
highest  proportion  of  spirits  allowed  by  the  Customs.  This 
process  leaves  a little  flatness,  but  is  a frequent  restorative, 
and  renders  the  wine  useful,  at  any  rate  for  blending 
purposes.” 

§ 21.  Dr.  Brinton,  in  his  work  on  Food  and  its  Digestion 
(London,  1861),  says,  “ The  addition  of  brandy  to  wine  is, 
of  course,  a rank  adulteration.” 

Dr.  McCulloch,  in  his  Art  of  Making  Wine,  observes 
that  “ the  admixture  of  alcohol  decomposes  the  wine.” 

Dr.  Garrod,  in  his  System  of  Medicine,  writing  on  the 
causes  of  gout,  says,  “ The  wines  to  be  carefully  avoided  are 
port,  sherry,  madeira,  and  any  in  which  the  fermentation 
has  been  checked  by  the  addition  of  alcohol.” 

The  writer  of  the  article  on  Wine  and  the  Wine  Trade 
( Edinburgh  Deview,  July,  1867),  a propos  of  these  legalized 


Wine  rectifi- 
cation with 
prepared 
chalk 

publicly  ad- 
vertised as 
late  as  1878. 


The  per- 
nicious 


54 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


practice 
of  hetero- 
geneous 
mixture  of 
wines  in  the 
wine  trade. 


Various  ills 
caused  by 
drinking 
adulterated 
wines. 


adulterations,  says,  “It  is,  we  think,  very  questionable 
whether  wines  of  different  vintages,  but  of  the  same 
country,  should  be  mixed  at  all,  as  is  now  universally  done 
in  bond  for  home  consumption.  Chemically,  they  cannot 
perfectly  agree ; and  in  order  to  keep  the  peace  among 
them  more,  alcohol  is  poured  in  to  pay  the  constable.  But 
there  can  be  no  question  whatever  of  the  atrocity  of 
pouring  all  kinds  of  wine,  white  and  red,  of  all  countries 
and  all  ages,  sweet  and  sour  and  bitter,  into  vats,  as  is 
now  done  in  the  docks,  adding  spirit  to  them  to  keep  them 
from  perishing,  as  they  do  with  preparations  in  our 
museums,  and  then  exporting  them  to  other  countries. 
But  do  they  always  go  to  other  countries  ? The  evidence 
of  the  authorities  of  the  Customs  at  the  docks  tells  a very 
different  tale.  Mr.  Cole,  Comptroller  of  the  Customs  in 
the  London  Docks,  among  numerous  other  examples  of 
heterogeneous  mixtures  of  wines  vatted  in  these  docks, 
gives  us  the  following,  dated  October  16,  1850  : — 

“ ‘ Spanish  wine,  1529  gallons  ; of  Fayal  wine,  544 
gallons ; of  French  wines,  4492  gallons ; of  Cape  wines, 
689  gallons ; of  Portugal  wine,  only  117  gallons,  with 
155  gallons  of  brandy,  the  result  obtained  being  7524 
gallons,  minus  8 gallons  loss ; and  the  grand  result  is 
7533  gallons  of  port  wine.’  ” 

And  the  celebrated  physician  and  chemist,  Dr.  Bergeron, 
of  Paris,  says  that  alcoholization  of  wine  introduces  in 
wine  a proportion  of  alcohol  which,  not  being  intimately 
associated  with  the  other  principles  of  the  “ must  ” in  the 
labour  of  fermentation,  finds  itself  there  in  a kind  of  free 
state,  and  acts  with  the  same  suddenness  and  energy  on 
the  organism  as  diluted  alcohol. 

As  to  champagnes,  Wetherbee  says,  in  his  Toxicology , 
that  a “portion  of  so-called  champagne  wines  is  composed 
of  the  expressed  juice  of  turnips,  apples,  and  other 
vegetables,  to  which  sufficient  sugar  of  lead  is  added  to 
produce  the  necessary  sweetness  and  astringency.”  The 
Wine  Guide  (London,  1874)  counsels  wine  merchants  to 
clear  cloudy  and  musty  wines  with  sugar  of  lead,  and  Dr. 
Orfila,  in  his  work  on  Poisons  (Paris,  1852),  says,  “ Of  all 
the  frauds  this  is  the  most  dangerous.  Sugar  of  lead 
gives  a sweet,  astringent,  metallic  taste,  constriction  of  the 
throat,  pain  in  the  stomach,  vomiting,  fetid  eructation, 


ADULTERATIONS. 


55 


• thirst,  coldness  of  limbs,  convulsions,  delirium,  etc.”  This, 
then,  is  tbe  explanation  of  the  terrible  splitting  headaches 
after  fashionable  champagne  suppers. 

Dr.  Baer  states  that  in  the  adulteration  of  wines  the 
colouring  matters  play  a deadly  part.  “ Not  only  light 
wines,  but  mixtures,  in  which  there  has  never  been  any 
grape  juice,  are  artificially  dyed  and  brought  into  the  trade 
as  precious  red  wines.  To  this  end  vegetable  dyes  are 
used,  such  as  mallow-bloom,  whortleberries,  elderberries, 
cochineal,  and  logwood  . . . and  in  modern  times  the 
aniline  dye  fuchsia,  especially  dangerous  because  of  the 
arsenic  it  contains.  Very  serions  symptoms  have  followed 
a few  days’  use  of  this — albuminuria,  colic,  emaciation,  etc. 
. . . Certain  processes  resorted  to  in  wine  cooperage  are 
very  unhealthy  . . . alkalies — carbonate  of  lime  and  quick- 
lime are  added  to  fix  the  superfluous  acids,  and  plaster  of 
Paris  to  heighten  the  colour  and  increase  its  power  of 
keeping.  In  the  sulphurating  of  the  wine  casks,  when  the 
sulphur  is  from  arsenic,  this  poison  also  may  gain  access 
to  the  wine.” 

§ 22.  At  the  close  of  his  work  on  Wines  (London,  1880), 
Mr.  Vizetelly  devotes  some  attention  to  beer,  and  says  that 
“ the  popular  notion  that  the  intoxicating  influence  of 
English  beer  is  due  exclusively  to  its  alcoholic  strength  is 
an  erroneous  one,  for  there  are  many  beers  containing  only 
a very  small  quantity  of  alcohol,  that  are  highly  stupefying, 
most  likely  due  to  the  use  of  cocculus  indicus.” 

Of  course  the  chief  adulterations  used  for  beers  are 
water  and  salt.  To  conceal  the  water  dilution,  and  as 
substitutes  for  hops,  a number  of  bitter  stuffs  are  used. 
Picric  acid,  aloes,  quassia,  bnckbean,  cocculus  indicus, 
and  gentian  supply  the  taste  of  hops ; phosphoric  acid 
the  hop  aroma ; and  for  the  headings  or  froths,  concoc- 
tions of  alum,  copperas,  sweet  wort,  molasses,  and  cocculus 
indicus  are  used.  As  a substitute  for  alcohol,  the  cocculus 
indicus  berry,  which  in  its  poisonous  power  surpasses 
prussic  acid,  is  being  imported  in  steadily  increasing 
quantities  into  England.  A querist  in  the  Pharmaceutical 
Journal  (for  1874)  pointed  out  that  “ the  stocks  for  a 
previous  month  had  been  1066  bags,”  and  asked,  “ Is  there 
any  legitimate  use  for  the  same  ? ” The  Lancet  declared 
not,  and  had  “ no  hesitation  in  affirming  that  a very  large 


Beer  adulter- 
ation. 


56 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  narcotic 

drink, 

lupulit. 


portion  of  it  is  put  into  malt  liquor  to  give  it  strength  and 
headiness.  A viler  agent  could  not  well  be  introduced 
into  beer  than  the  berry,  the  stupefying  effects  of  which 
are  so  well  known  that  it  is  frequently  used  to  kill  fish  and 
birds.” 

As  substitutes  for  malt  and  sugar,  unmalted  grain, 
ryes,  maize  starch,  syrups,  and  glycerine  are  used.  To 
give  age,  or  rectify  staleness,  oil  of  vitriol  and  sulphuric 
acids  are  chiefly  used.  Sulphate  of  iron  is  the  ingredient 
which  gives  it  the  metallic  bitter  taste  so  loved  by  beer- 
drinkers.  Lime  and  lead  composites  are  employed  to 
neutralize  the  action  of  the  acids. 

Another  intoxicant,  though  generally  regarded  as  non- 
alcoholic, is  the  lupulit,  an  extract  from  the  hop-flower 
gland.  It  contains  ethereal  oils,  tannic  acid,  bitter  stuffs, 
resin,  etc.,  and  the  narcotic  effect  is  chiefly  due  to  the 
resinous  part. 


CHAPTER  V. 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS  ; OR,  EFFECTS  OF  ALCOHOL  ON  THE 
PHYSICAL  ORGANS  AND  FUNCTIONS. 

“ Delight  not  in  meats  and  drinks  that  are  too  strong  for  Nature* 
but  always  let  Nature  be  stronger  than  your  food. 

“Let  your  food  be  simple,  and  drinks  innocent,  and  learn  of 
wisdom  and  experience  how  to  prepare  them  aright.” — Aphorisms 
25  and  32.  Tryon.  1691. 

“ Two  lives  go  to  make  up  the  life  of  a nation.  There  is,  first  of 
all,  the  individual  life,  and  then  the  collective  life  of  the  individuals, 
which  makes  what  we  call  ‘ the  life  of  the  nation ; ’ but  if  I may  be 
forgiven  for  saying  so,  far  before  the  life  of  a nation  is  the  life  of 
every  individual  soul  who  forms  a part  of  it — and  if  the  question  of 
the  proper  use  of  alcoholic  drinks  is  important  for  our  welfare  as  a 
nation,  surely  in  a much  stronger  sense  it  is  important  for  us,  as 
individual  souls,  fraught  with  all  the  business  of  eternity  upon  our 
backs,  to  determine  what  is  the  right  use  of  alcohol.  Now,  if  this 
question  is  important  in  this  twofold  aspect,  what  a solemn  sense  of 
responsibility  must  be  upon  the  shoulders  of  those  who  come  forward 
to  speak  about  it,  and  especially  upon  the  shoulders  of  those  who 
come  forward  and  speak  about  it  with  authority  ! Two  things,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  are  necessary  : one  is,  that  he  who  presumes  to  speak 
authoritatively  upon  this  subject  shall  know  it ; and  the  next  is  that, 
however  dear  a certain  side  of  the  question  may  be  to  him,  he  should 
speak  about  it  not  with  the  mere  desire  to  succeed,  not  with  the 
desire  of  triumph,  but  with  a loving,  reverent,  solemn  desire  to  state 
the  truth  about  it,  and  nothing  but  the  truth.” — An  Enemy  of  the 
Race,  Lecture  by  Sir  Andrew  Clark,  London. 

“ When  I think  of  the  terrible  effects  of  the  abuse  of  alcohol,  I 
am  disposed  to  give  up  my  profession,  to  give  up  everything,  and  go 
forth  upon  a holy  crusade,  preaching  to  all  men — Beware  of  this 
enemy  of  the  race  ! ” — Alcohol  in  Small  Doses,  Lecture  by  Sir  Andrew 
Clark,  London. 

§ 23.  The  greatest  physiologists  are  agreed  that  the  proper 
length  of  life  allotted  to  man  cannot  be  known.  Dr.  L. 


Dr.  L.  Her- 
mann’s idea 
of  human 
life-limit. 


58 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Alcohol  a 
chief  ageut 
in  abbre- 
viating life. 


Dr.  J.  R. 
Farre’s 
opinion  on 
the  same 
point. 


Professor 

Flourens’ 

epigram. 


Hermann,  of  Zurich,  in  the  recent  edition  of  his  Physiology 
(Berlin,  1882),  says,  “For  all  animal  life  there  exists  a 
tolerably  certain  life-limit,  so  that  we  must  regard  the  ex- 
tinction of  function  as  a normal  process ; but  as  to  man 
the  typical  life-limit  is  not  definable  because  of  the  many 
harmful  conditions  that  accompany  civilization.” 

The  present  average  age  of  man  is  not  over  fifty  years, 
while,  according  to  the  Old  Testament,  from  two  hundred 
to  six  hundred  years  was  once  not  an  extraordinary  life- 
limit,  and  both  marriages  and  child-births  after  one  hundred 
years  of  age  are  recorded  among  the  ancient  people  of  God. 
The  question  raised  at  this  point  by  reference  to  such 
records  as  these,  is  of  course  not  one  of  faith  or  doctrine  ; 
but  one  of  rational  inference  that  an  average  longevity 
greater  than  any  reached  in  our  day,  or  within  modern 
history,  was  the  probable  basis  of  such  statements. 
Herodotus  (Book  III.  chap,  vi.)  says  of  the  Macrobians 
(Ethiopians)  in  the  time  of  Cambyses,  that  they  were  re- 
markable “ for  their  beauty  and  their  massive  proportions 
of  body,  in  both  of  which  they  surpassed  all  other  men 
. . . they  lived  to  be  a hundred  and  twenty  years  old,  and 
some  to  a longer  period,  and  yet  they  fed  on  roasted  meat 
and  used  milk  for  their  drink.” 

Dr.  John  Richard  Farre,  when  examined  before  the 
Parliamentary  Committee  appointed  in  1834  to  inquire 
into  the  cause  and  extent  of  drunkenness,  gave  it  as  his 
opinion,  based  on  the  evidences  of  revelation  and  both 
sacred  and  profane  history,  that  “ by  the  last  grant  of 
Providence  to  man,  his  life  is  one  hundred  and  twenty 
years,”  and  that  where  diseases  arising  from  other  causes 
do  not  shorten  it,  the  reason  why  so  few  attain  that  age  is 
to  be  found  in  the  use  of  drink,  in  which  the  masses  of  the 
community  continually  indulge.  He  instanced  the  deaths 
of  Pitt  and  Fox  as  due  to  the  use  of  alcohol,  by  which  they 
sought  to  supplement  energies  already  too  exhaustingly 
taxed. 

Professor  P.  Flourens,  of  the  College  de  France,. in  his 
work  on  Human  Longevity  (Paris,  1854),  considers  one 
hundred  years  to  be  the  normal  length  of  man’s  life. 
“ Few  men,  indeed,”  he  says,  “reach  that  age,  but  how 
many  do  what  is  necessary  to  reach  it  ? With  our  way  of 
living,  our  passions  and  worries,  man  no  longer  dies,  but 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  KESULTS. 


59 


kills  himself  /”  To  prolong  life,  that  is,  to  make  it  last  as 
long  as  the  constitution  indicates  that  it  should,  there  is 
a means  and  a very  certain  means,  and  that  is  to  live 
soberly.” 

And  within  the  present  short  limit  of  life  what  an 
infinite  amount  of  disease,  and  of  disease-aborted  powers, 
we  find  bound  up  ; for  as  deliberately  as  he  kills  himself, 
does  man  poison  and  thwart  himself  during  the  period 
which  nature  is  able  to  eke  out. 

Even  now  individual  cases  occur  of  life-limit  reaching 
and  exceeding  one  hundred  years,  as  in  the  year  1881  deaths 
were  recorded  in  England  of  some  ninety-one  persons  of  one 
hundred  years  and  upwards,  the  oldest  one  hundred  and 
twelve.  But  this  fact  points  only  to  general  possibilities, 
and  it  is  my  purpose  here  to  show  that  science  and  obser- 
vation have  furnished  proof  that  the  chief  enemy  of  the 
longevity  and  health  of  the  race  is  alcohol. 

The  main  cause  is  ignorance- — I mean  the  pernicious 
ignorance  which  knows  a thing  in  a general  sense,  without 
acting  upon  this  knowledge  in  a particular  sense,  and 
thereby  developing  both  knowledge  and  practice  into  a 
true  science  of  living,  in  our  own  individual  behalf  and 
for  others. 

We  are  here  concerned  with  this  form  of  ignorance  in 
regard  to  the  general  physical  laws  of  the  construction  of 
the  body  and  the  maintenance  of  its  health,*  and  with 

* Every  man  knows  that  his  physical  body  is  his  means  for  being 
and  doing.  He  knows  that  to  this  end  he  must  respect,  care  for — 
yes,  revere  his  body.  And  the  inherent  law  of  self-defence  and 
self-preservation — by  ignorance  so  often  sadly  perverted  into  self- 
destruction — seeks  to  teach  this  fact. 

Nobody,  when  the  matter  is  brought  plainly  before  him,  will 
hesitate  to  admit  that  he  ought  to  live  in  such  a manner  that  all  his 
faculties,  capacities,  and  powers  should  receive  the  best  development 
and  activity ; but  in  practice  this  truism  is  almost  unknown.  And 
with  our  social  life  and  institutions,  only  an  exceedingly  small  pro- 
portion of  mankind,  even  with  the  best  intention  in  the  world,  could 
approximately  reach  this  ideal.  Sufficient  and  agreeable  rest,  enough 
of  undisturbed  sleep,  congenial  and  healthy  occupations,  sufficient 
amount  and  variety  of  healthy  foods,  fresh  and  pure  air  and  water, 
healthy  dwellings,  these  are  all  essential  for  bodily  vigour  and  health ; 
but  to  how  many  of  the  toiling  millions  who  labour  for  bread,  either 
by  muscle  or  brain,  are  these  essentials  vouchsafed  ? 

On  the  other  hand,  how  many  of  those  so-called  fortunate  ones, 


Man’s  re- 
sponsibility 
in  this 
matter. 


Ignorance 
the  chief 
cause  of  the 
brevity  of 
life. 


60 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  inherent 
wisdom 
manifested 
in  organic 
life. 


The  chemical 
elements  of 
the  human 
body. 


especial  reference  to  tlie  use  of  alcohol,  which  but  for  this 
ignorance  would  not  have  continued  to  this  date  an 
ingredient  in  our  beverages. 

§ 24.  Before  considering  definite  theories  as  to  what 
alcohol  does  and  becomes  after  it  enters  the  living  organism, 
it  is  well  that  the  starting-point  of  thought  should  be  that 
of  the  marvellous — apparently  mechanical — wisdom  in- 
herent in  organic  life,  which  makes  all  portions  of  our 
being  unite  with  unanimity  and  harmony  to  utilize  that 
which  is  useful,  to  reduce  and  reject  that  which  is  not ; 
and  by  which  the  body,  previous  to  disease,  signifies  un- 
mistakably its  approval  or  disapproval  of  the  treatment  it 
receives — as,  for  instance,  in  hunger  or  thirst,  its  intima- 
tions are  imperative,  irresistible,  and  can  be  silenced  only 
by  obedience  or  death. 

It  is  essential,  also,  to  bear  in  mind  that  this  very 
power  enables  the  body — like  the  mind — to  adapt  itself  to 
such  gradual  derangement  and  degradation  of  the  great 
mass  of  its  minor  requirements  as  produce  imperfect  con- 
ditions, which  by  habit  become  chronic  or  second  nature. 

§ 25.  Chemical  analysis  has  demonstrated  that  the 
human  body  contains  from  fifteen  to  seventeen  chemical 
element^ : — Carbon,  13'5  ; hydrogen,  9'5  ; nitrogen,  2 5 ; 
oxygen,  72*0 ; phosphorus,  1*15 ; calcium  (metallic),  1*3 ; 
with  minute  quantities  of  sulphur  and  iron.  These 
elements  form  the  various  organic  compounds  which  make 
up  the  body,  but  as  all  of  them  are  extremely  unstable  * in 

wlio  could  command  all  these  blessings,  are  wise  enough,  to  value 
them  more  than  the  satisfaction  of  loose  desires,  sensations,  and 
passions  ? 

* “ The  animal  organic  compounds  are  characterized  by  their 
complexity,  for  in  the  first  place  many  elements  enter  into  their 
composition.  . . . Again,  many  atoms  of  the  same  element  occur  in 
each  molecule.  This  latter  fact  no  doubt  explains  the  reason  of  the 
instability  of  organic  compounds,  as  many  of  them  are  unsaturated 
bodies,  or,  in  other  words,  bodies  containing  atoms  which  are  not 
satisfied  according  to  chemical  law  by  combination  with  equivalent 
atoms  of  other  elements.  . . . Another  great  cause  of  the  instability 
arises  from  the  fact  that  many  organic  compounds  contain  the 
element  nitrogen,  which  may  be  called  negative  or  undecided  in  its 
affinities,  and  may  be  easily  separated  from  its  combination  with 
other  elements.  From  the  foregoing  it  is  evident  that  animal  tissues, 
containing  as  they  do  these  organic  nitrogenous  compounds,  are 
extremely  prone  to  undergo  chemical  decomposition,  and  this  is 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


61 


their  character — life  and  health  necessitating  their  constant 
change,  dissolution,  and  elimination — the  body  requires 
constantly  a re- supply  of  renovating  materials  which  are 
broadly  called  food.  Whatever,  therefore,  contains  any  of 
the  above-mentioned  elements  in  a form  chemically  soluble 
and  assimilable  by  the  body,  is  in  that  proportion  a food. 

By  “ food,”  therefore,  is  meant  any  substance,  in  solid, 
liquid,  or  gaseous  form,  which,  when  taken  internally, 
supplies  some  needed  substance  or  force  ; in  a word,  any- 
thing which,  taken  internally,  supplies  with  innocency  to 
the  tissues  any  requirement  of  the  body,  is  food. 

Besides  fresh  air  and  pure  water,  the  body  needs  con- 
stant supply  of  tissue  and  force-supplying  foods.  Foods, 
without  exception,  have  their  origin  in  the  constructive 
action  of  plant  life.  Sometimes  we  take  the  materials 
directly  from  the  vegetable  kingdom,  and  sometimes  from 
the  flesh  of  animals  who  have  subjected  the  coarser  vege- 
table products  to  a preliminary  digestion.  Latent  energy, 
in  the  complex  organic  substances  known  as  food,  is  thrown 
out  upon  their  decomposition  into  simpler  forms  of 
material.  Upon  the  amount  of  the  force  thus  released, 
and  upon  the  decomposability  of  the  organic  compound, 
depends  the  food  value — innocency  in  relation  to  the  body 
being  assumed. 

Foods  may  he  broadly  divided  into  three  classes  : — 

First,  Regular  foods — such  alimentary  materials  as  are 
usually  considered  food. 

Second,  Condimentary  foods — those  which  please  the 
palate  and  smell,  including  spices  and  sauces.  These 
should  be  used  with  great  discretion,  in  order  that  the 
appetite  may  not  be  vitiated. 

Third,  Supplementary  and  Incidental  foods — foods 
suited  to  irregular  conditions,  to  diseases,  etc. ; such  as 
some  medicines,  certain  substances  which  in  particular 
states  of  health  are  useful  to  expel  poisons  or  impurities, 
to  remove  obstructions,  repair  damages,  etc. 

Generally,  however,  only  such  substances  as  properly 

especially  the  case  since  they  also  contain  a large  quantity  of  water, 
a condition  most  favourable  for  the  breaking  up  of  complicated  com- 
pounds.”— W.  Morrant  Baker’s  Handbook  of  Physiology.  London, 
1880. 


In  what  food 
consists. 


Definition  of 
food. 


Division  of 
foods  into 
three 
classes — 
Regular, 
Condimen- 
tary, Supple- 
mentary 
and  Inci- 
dental foods. 


Division  of 
the  Regular 
foods. 


62 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  process 
of  nutrition. 


The  nature 
and  twofold 
mission  of 
the  blood. 


The  consti- 
tuent parts 
of  blood. 


Water  the 


belong  to  tbe  first  class  are  commonly  accepted  as  foods. 
These  have  been  divided  into  many  groups,  but  the  only 
accurate  division  is  the  chemical  one,  viz.,  the  nitrogenous 
and  the  non-nitrogenous : the  nitrogenous,*  such  as 
albumen  (the  white  of  an  egg,  vegetable  albumen  in 
cereals  and  in  the  juices  of  plants  ; fibrine,  the  coagulating 
ingredient  in  blood,  and  the  gluten  in  cereals,  etc.)  ; and  the 
non-nitrogenous,  divided  in  two  groups,  viz.,  the  fats  or 
hydro-carbons,  and  starch  and  sugar  or  the  carbo- 
hydrates. 

The  change  of  foods  f into  tissue  and  the  releasing  of 
its  energy  is  a series  of  intricate  processes.  After  being 
mingled  with  the  saliva,  the  food  enters  the  stomach,  where 
it  is  thoroughly  mixed  with  the  gastric  juice,  and  as  soon 
as  any  portions  are  fit  for  blood-making,  they  are  drawn 
into  the  blood,  while  the  residual  matters  are  carried  off 
through  the  intestines. 

§ 26.  Blood  is  tissue  in  solution  (that  is,  food  prepared 
for  renewal  of  tissue,  and  food  which,  having  been  used  in 
tissue-making,  has  become  waste),  and  in  its  coursing 
through  all  the  parts  of  the  body  it  fulfils  the  double 
mission  of  feeding  and  of  scavenging  the  tissues. 

The  blood  consists  chiefly  of  two  compounds — the 
blood-plasma  or  serum,  a colourless  fluid,  in  which  the 
blood-corpuscles  float ; and  the  blood-corpuscles  themselves, 
which  contain  the  colouring  matter. 

The  principal  function  of  the  corpuscles  seems  to  be 
to  carry  backwards  and  forwards  between  the  lungs  and 
tissues,  the  oxygen  which  they  require  and  the  carbonic, 
acid  which  they  give  out.  Upon  the  sufficiency,  healthful- 
ness, and  normal  circulation  of  the  blood,  therefore,  the 
health  and  the  life  of  the  individual  depend. 

But  although  foods  are  vitally  important  for  the 

* It  is  a curious  fact  that  although  the  hulk  of  the  atmosphere 
consists  of  no  less  than  75  per  cent,  of  nitrogen,  still  the  living  body 
is  unable  to  obtain  any  of  it  direct  from  the  atmosphere ; and  as 
nitrogen  is  an  element  that  does  not  exist  in  all  foods,  it  has  been 
found  convenient  to  divide  foods  into  the  two  classes  here  mentioned. 

t The  harder  the  mental  or  physical  labour,  the  more  easy  of 
digestion  should  the  foods  be,  their  mastication  should  be  the  more 
thorough,  and  after  eating  the  digestive  process  should  be  further 
assisted  by  rest. 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


63 


support  of  life,  water  is  even  more  important.  Water  is 
the  medium  or  vehicle  in  which  all  the  chemical  changes  of 
the  body  are  performed,  and  in  this  sense  it  is  an  essential 
auxiliary  to  the  food-materials  of  the  body.  Dr.  W.  B. 
Carpenter,  in  his  prize  essay  On  the  Use  and  Abuse  of 
Alcoholic  Liquors  in  Health  and  Disease  (London,  1849), 
says,  “ It  is  through  the  medium  of  the  water  contained  in 
the  animal  body  that  all  its  vital  functions  are  carried  on. 
No  other  liquid  than  water  can  act  as  the  solvent  for  the 
various  articles  of  food  which  are  taken  into  the  stomach. 
It  is  water  alone  which  forms  all  the  fluid  portion  of  the 
blood,  and  thus  serves  to  convey  the  nutritive  material 
through  the  capillary  pores  into  the  substance  of  the  solid 
tissues.  It  is  water,  which,  when  mingled  in  various  pro- 
portions with  the  solid  components  of  the  various  textures, 
gives  to  them  the  consistence  which  they  severally  require. 
And  it  is  water,  which  takes  up  the  products  of  their 
decay,  and  by  the  most  complicated  and  wonderful  system 
of  sewerage,  conveys  them  out  of  the  system.”  Dr.  Austin 
Flint,  in  his  Physiology  of  Man  (New  York,  1866),  says, 
concerning  water,  that  it. “is  by  far  the  most  important 
of  the  inorganic  principles.  It  is  present  at  all  periods  of 
life,  existing  even  in  the  ovum.  It  exists  in  all  parts  of 
the  body ; in  the  fluids — some  of  which,  as  the  lachrymal 
fluid  and  perspiration,  contain  little  else — and  in  the 
hardest  structures,  as  the  bones  or  the  enamel  of  the  teeth.” 


He  supplies  the  following  table  of  Quantity  of  Water 
various  parts  of  the  body — parts  per  thousand  : — 

in  the 

Teeth 

100 

Chyle  of  man  ... 

904 

Bones 

130 

Bile  

905 

Tendons... 

500 

Urine 

933 

Articular  cartilages 

550 

Human  lymph  ... 

960 

Skin 

575 

Human  saliva  ... 

983 

Liver 

618 

Gastric  juice 

984 

Mnscles  of  man... 

725 

Perspiration 

986 

Ligaments 

768 

Tears 

990 

Mean  of  blood  ... 

780 

Pulmonary  vapour 

997 

Milk  of  human  female  . . . 

887 

Of  the  Functions  of  Water,  he  says — “ As  a constituent 
of  organized  tissue,  it  gives  to  cartilage  its  elasticity,  to 
tendons  their  pliability  and  toughness ; it  is  necessary  to 
the  peculiar  power  and  resistance  of  the  bones,  . . . and  to 


paramount 
need  of  the 
system. 


Dr.  W.  B. 

Carpenter 

on  the 

paramount 

importance 

of  water  to 

life. 


Dr.  Austin 
Flint  on  the 
same. 


64 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Drs.  Bec- 
querel  and 
Rodier  on 
the  propor- 
tion of  water 
in  blood. 


Dr.  Albin 
Koch  on  the 
same. 


Definition  of 
poison. 


Division  of 
poisons  into 
two  groups — 
Absolute  and 
Incidental 
poisons. 


the  proper  consistence  of  all  parts  of  the  body.  It  has 
other  important  functions  as  a solvent.  Soluble  articles 
of  food  are  introduced  in  solution  in  water.  The  ex- 
crementitious  matters,  which  are  generally  soluble  in  water, 
are  dissolved  by  it  in  the  blood,  carried  to  the  organs  of 
excretion,  and  discharged  in  a watery  solution  from  the 
body.” 

The  French  physicians,  Becquerel  and  Rodier,  in  their 
treatise,  Pathological  Chemistry  as  applied  to  Medical 
Practice  (Paris,  1854),  state,  as  to  the  constitution  of  the 
blood,  that  it  consists  of — 


Water  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  781-600 

Globules  ...  ...  ...  ...  135-000 

Albumen  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  70’000 

Fibrine  ...  ...  ...  ...  2'500 

Chlorides  of  sodium,  potassium,  magnesium,  etc.  . . . 3"500 


And  the  Danish  physician,  Dr.  Albin  Koch,  states  that 
by  dividing  the  blood  into  1000  parts  we  find  that  it 
consists  of  789  parts  of  water,  131  of  blood-corpuscles, 
71  parts  albumen,  and  the  remainder  are  salts,  fats,  etc. 

Water,  therefore,  is  the  overwhelming  need  of  the 
system,  as  the  sufferings  from  excessive  thirst  prove ; 
death  by  thirst  is  more  rapid  and  distressing  than  by 
starvation. 

§ 27.  As  by  food  is  meant  anything  which  feeds  tissue 
or  replenishes  force,  with  innocency  to  the  organism,  so  by 
poison  is  meant  anything  which,  when  taken  into  the  body, 
does  harm  to  it. 

Poisons  may  be  divided  into  two  groups — Absolute 
poisons,  or  such  as  are  always  hurtful  or  useless,  and 
Incidental  poisons,  such  as  are  determined  in  their  ill  or 
good  effect  by  the  condition  of  the  body : and  these  may 
be  interchangeable  with  the  second  and  third  groups  of 
foods,  according  to  the  condition  of  the  person  taking 
them. 

Even  the  regular  foods  may  at  times  act  as  poisons, 
and  the  absolute  poisons  act  as  foods,  but  such  occasions 
are  rare. 

Any  substance  not  a food,  if  used  as  a food,  acts  as  a 
poison. 

§ 28.  For  an  authoritative  answer  to  the  question 
whether  alcohol  is  a food  or  a poison,  we  look  naturally 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


65 


to  the  physician  ; but,  unfortunately,  the  most  renowned 
physicians  differ  in  their  opinions  on  the  subject. 

Although  for  upwards  of  four  centuries  warning  voices 
have  from  time  to  time  been  raised  against  the  use  of 
alcoholic  drinks,  it  is  only  within  the  memory  of  the 
still  living  that  these  voices  have  been  listened  to  in 
earnest. 

During  the  last  thirty  years — that  is,  since  the  establish- 
ment of  a scientific  system  of  physiology — scientists  have 
laboured  most  indefatigably  to  find  out  what  are  the  effects 
of  alcohol.  Some  light  has  been  gained,  but  only  a very 
few  points  have  been  accepted  as  proven.  Hundreds  of 
able  medical  authorities  have  devoted  much  time  and  care 
to  watching  the  phenomena  of  drink,  and  the  records  of 
these  endeavours  are  a proud  memorial  to  the  sincerity  and 
earnestness  of  the  medical  profession. 

The  most  eminent  members  of  the  medical  profession 
have  made  public  the  apparently  irreconcilable  results  of 
their  varied  experiments.  Others,  seeing  only  the  un- 
certainty and  confusion  on  the  subject,  have  eluded  the 
difficulty  by  declaring  the  outcry  against  alcohol  to  be 
nonsense,  and  by  affirming  that  while  many  perish  from 
excessive  drinking,  those  who  drink  moderately  are 
benefited,  and  that  if  it  is  not  indispensable  for  the  preser- 
vation of  health,  it  is  of  great  importance  to  it.  A still 
greater  number — the  rank  and  file  of  medical  men — yet 
hold  that  alcohol  is  always  bad  for  young  people,  but  that 
for  healthy  adults,  when  taken  in  very  small  quantities, 
one  to  two  ounces  daily,  it  is,  if  not  beneficial,  at  least  harm- 
less. A few  remain  neutral  as  to  its  effects  ; and  a few 
take  a decided  stand  against  its  use  as  a drink,  and  differ 
widely  in  almost  every  instance  as  to  its  use  and  value 
medicinally. 

We  must,  therefore,  try,  by  a collection  and  careful 
analysis  of  comparisons  and  deductions,  to  arrive  at  the 
result. 


First,  as  regards  alcohol  itself.  We  saw  in  chapter  iii. 
how  important  a role  the  recently  discovered  world  of 
microscopic  animals  and  plants,  called  ferments,  play  in  the 
economy  of  both  life  and  death;  how  it  is  through  the 
activity  of  these  minute  creations  that  both  animals  and 

F 


The  present 
attitude  of 
physicians 
on  the 
subject  of 
the  use  of 
alcohol. 


The  impor- 
tant rdle 
played  by 
the  micro- 
scopic world 
in  the  visible 
world ; 


66 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


especially  in 

producing 

alcohol. 


Is  alcohol  a 
food  ? 


Alcohol  is 
not  found  in 
the  living 
organism, 
except  in 
occasional 
traces  in  the 
refuse. 


people  are  swept  away  by  wbat  are  termed  infectious 
diseases  : for  example,  the  rinderpest  and  plenro-pnenmonia 
among  cattle  ; the  plague,  yellow  fever,  and  cholera  among 
men.  That,  on  the  other  hand,  but  for  the  activity  of 
other  kinds  of  these  invisible  forces,  life  would  be  impos- 
sible ; that  it  is  by  means  of  the  diastatic  ferments  * that 
digestion  becomes  possible;  by  means  of  this  activity  in- 
soluble albumen  becomes  soluble  (peptone)  ; starch  and 
some  cellulose  are  changed  into  dextrine  or  grape  sugar; 
fats  are  split  up ; and  cane  sugar,  which  is  insoluble  in 
protoplasm,  becomes  soluble  glucose.  (These  minute 
organisms,  moreover,  are  the  scavengers  of  nature.) 

And  we  saw  that  alcohol,  which  is  obtained  from  the 
saccharine  matters  of  grapes,  cereals,  potatoes,  beets,  etc. — 
that  is,  from  the  principal  carbo-hydrates — is  also  the 
product  of  digestive  or  diastatic  ferments  (ferments  that 
feed  on  the  albuminous  accompaniments  of  saccharine 
substances),  such  as  those  through  whose  activity  starch 
and  cellulose  become  grape  sugar,  and  cane  sugar  becomes 
glucose. 

Can  alcohol  be  called  a food  on  the  ground  that  it 
supplies  tissue  ? I have  already  pointed  out  that  the 
nutritive  powers  of  foods  depended  on  the  proportion  in 
which  they  held  compounds  of  elements  which  could  be 
made  available  for  the  renovation  of  the  body ; and 
(chap,  iii.)  that  hitherto  alcohol  has  not  been  found  in 
the  living  organism,  except  in  the  wastes  and  refuse,  and 
even  in  these  only  in  infinitesimal  traces,  so  loth  is  the 
body  to  harbour  alcohol. 

But  if  science  should  succeed  in  discovering  traces  of 
alcohol  in  living  tissue,  it  would  be  at  most  only  in  such 
infinitesimal  quantities  as  those  of  copper  and  lead ; and 
surely  no  one,  because  copper  and  lead  had  been  traced 
in  the  body,  would  suggest  that  we  should  supply  ourselves 
with  these  compounds  by  the  use  of  salts  of  copper  and 
lead  as  foods  ! 

* To  these  ferments  belong  the  so-called  ptyalin  found  in  the 
saliva,  the  ferments  in  the  pancreatic  juice  which  change  starch  into 
soluble  glucose,  also  the  ferments  of  the  liver  which  act  on  the 
glycogen  ; other  ferments  change  cane  and  milk  sugar  into  glucose. 
The  hydrolytic  or  unknown  processes  of  life  are  supposed  to  be  due 
to  the  activity  of  various  ferments. 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


67 


Dr.  A.  Baer,  of  Berlin,  in  his  treatise  on  Drink  Craving 
(1881),  states  that  “ alcohol  contains  neither  albumen,  nor 
fat,  nor  any  other  substance  either  present  in  the  animal 
organism  or  arising  by  chemical  changes  in  the  body  and 
replacing  a part  of  the  same.” 

We  see  everywhere  around  ns,  thanks  to  the  progress 
of  the  temperance  reform,  people  sound  in  mind  and  body, 
who  never  touch  alcobol.  The  following  very  practical 
testimony  to  the  uselessness  of  alcohol  as  a food  I find  in 
Dr.  L.  A.  Klein’s  * lecture  f on  the  effects  of  the  use  of 
alcohol  during  the  siege  of  Paris : — 

“ It  was  just  the  time  when  the  wine-merchants  are 
used  to  buy  their  stock  for  the  year  when  the  war  broke 
out,  so  we  had  plenty  of  wines  of  every  description.  It 
was  disti'ibuted  by  the  Government  very  liberally  indeed. 

“We  drank  because  we  had  nothing  to  eat.  We  found 
most  decidedly  that  alcohol  was  no  substitute  for  bread 
and  meat.  We  also  found  that  it  was  not  a substitute  for 
coals.  You  know  how  cold  the  weather  was  during  the 
winter.  We  of  the  army  had  to  sleep  outside  Paris  on 
the  frozen  ground,  and  in  the  snow,  and  when  we  got  up 
in  the  morning  we  were  as  stiff  as  planks.  We  had  plenty 
of  alcohol,  but  it  did  not  make  us  warm.  We  thus  found 
out  by  bitter  experience  that  alcohol  did  not  make  us  warm, 
did  not  replace  food  of  any  kind,  and  did  not  replace  coals. 
Let  me  tell  you  there  is  nothing  that  will  make  you  feel 
the  cold  more,  nothing  which  will  make  you  feel  the 
dreadful  sense  of  hunger  more,  than  alcohol.” 

But  though  the  conclusion  is  clear  that  alcohol  is  not 
food,  there  are  reasons  for  the  general  belief  that  it  is  ; 
such,  for  example,  as  the  outward  appearances  attending 
its  use,  the  heightened  colour,  the  temporarily  increased 
vivacity  of  mind  and  manner  and  surface  temperature,  the 
lessened  requirement  of  regular  foods ; all  which  seems  to 
indicate  that  alcohol  does,  in  some  kind  and  degree,  feed 
the  system.  It  is  also  claimed  that  alcobol  has  in  critical 
cases  saved  life  that  must  else  have  been  inevitably  lost ; J 

* French  staff.surgeon. 

t See  Medical  Temperance  Journal,  October,  1873. 

t There  have  been  cases  in  which  alcohol  has  been  said  to  have 
supported  life.  But  it  also  appears  to  have  been  proved  that  life  has 


Dr.  A.  Baer 
denies  that 
alcohol  is 
food. 


Dr.  Klein’s 
testimony  to 
the  worth- 
lessness of 
alcohol  as 
food. 


Reasons  for 
the  notion 
that  alcohol 
is  food. 


68 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Alcohol  tried 
by  the  tests 
of  foods. 


Dr.  Flint  on 
the  import- 
ance of  sugar 
to  nutrition. 


and  when  to  this  is  added  the  scientific  testimony  that 
alcohol  is  a product  of  the  chief  carbo-hydrate,  sugar — 
which  is  known  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  foods  of 
the  body — it  is  not  strange  that  alcohol  should  have  come 
to  be  generally  regarded  a food.  The  validity  of  all  these 
reasons  for  such  belief  will  be  examined  in  due  order 
when  the  particular  results  to  the  body  from  the  use  of 
alcohol  come  under  consideration. 

§ 29.  Here  let  us  try  alcohol  by  some  of  the  general 
tests  of  foods. 

1.  The  regular  foods  are  essential  to  life.  It  is 
positively  proved  that  alcohol  is  not  essential  either  to 
life  or  health. 

2.  The  periodic  need  felt  for  regular  foods  ceases  each 
time  after  being  moderately  supplied ; even  the  momen- 
tarily importunate  craving  (caused  by  some  special  want) 
when  abundantly  satisfied  also  ceases,  or,  if  satiated  or 
persistently  denied,  may  even  change  to  aversion. — With 
alcohol,  the  craving,  if  steadfastly  denied,  will  gradually 
cease ; but  if  satisfied,  it  begets  abnormal  craving,  and  that 
craving,  having  once  taken  hold,  becomes  the  most  in- 
satiable of  human  passions.  As  Linnaeus  said,  “ Man  sinks 
gradually  by  this  fell  poison ; first  he  favours  it,  then  warms 
to  it,  then  burns  for  it,  then  is  consumed  by  it.”* 

3.  Regular  foods,  when  taken  in  their  proper  ratio,  are 
easy  of  digestion,  and  give  the  system  a calm  increase 
of  vigour. — Alcohol  deranges  digestion  and  disturbs  the 
action  of  nerve-tissue. 

To  judge  from  these  tests,  therefore,  alcohol  is  not  only 
not  a regular  food,  but,  if  used  as  such,  acts  as  a poison. 

But  alcohol  is  a product  of  saccharine  fermentation ; 
and  sugar  is  a very  important  food. 

Dr.  Mint  says  (op.  cit.) — 

“ Sugar  is  an  important  element  of  food  at  all  periods 


been  maintained  by  chewing  shoe-leather.  Does  this  bring  shoe- 
leather  within  the  category  of  foods  P Life  has  also  been  said  to 
continue  quite  anomalously,  with  a total  absence  of  diet.  Is  then 
nothing  a food  P Whether  alcohol  is  a supplementary  or  incidental 
food  is  dealt  with  later  on  in  chapter  s.  on  Therapeutics. 

* Dissertatio  Sistens  Inebriantm,  bj-  Dr.  Linnaeus,  Upsala,  Sweden, 
1762  : “ Agunt  adeoque  haec  inebriantia  ut  ignis  potentialis  quiin, 
radu,  favet,  calescit,  urit,  comburit.” 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  KESULTS. 


69 


of  life.  In  the  young  child  it  is  introduced  in  considerable 
quantities  with  the  milk.  In  the  adult  it  is  introduced 
partly  in  the  form  of  cane  sugar,  but  mostly  in  the  form 
of  starch,  which  is  converted  into  sugar  in  the  process  of 
digestion.  With  the  exception  of  milk  sugar,  which  is 
only  present  during  lactation,  all  the  sugar  in  the  body 
exists  in  a form  resembling  glucose,  into  which  milk  sugar, 
cane  sugar,  and  starch  are  all  converted,  either  before  they 
are  absorbed  or  as  they  pass  through  the  liver.  In  addition 
to  these  external  sources  of  sugar,  it  is  continually  manu- 
factured in  the  economy  by  the  liver,  whence  it  is  taken  up 
by  the  blood  passing  through  this  organ.  It  disappears 
from  the  blood  in  its  passage  through  the  lungs.  In  the 
present  state  of  science  we  are  only  j ustified  in  saying  that 
sugar  is  important  in  the  process  of  development  and 
nutrition  at  all  periods  of  life.  The  precise  way  in  which 
it  influences  these  processes  is  not  fully  understood.” 

But  the  body,  although  richly  supplied  with  and  always 
requiring  sugar,  never  converts  it  into  alcohol , not  even  in 
disease,  and  hence  we  see  such  use  of  sugar  is  foreign  to 
the  economy  of  the  body.  The  oxidation  of  sugar  in  the 
body  is  an  innocent  process  of  breaking  up  into  carbonic 
acid  and  water.  These  products  are  eliminated  by  the 
respiration,  while  the  force  released  is  used  by  the  system. 
Alcoholic  fermentation  results  in  two  poisonous  compounds, 
alcohol  and  carbonic  acid.* 

* The  lethal  or  death  nature  of  alcohol 1 is  apparent  in  its  very 


1 “ The  Fermentation  of  Food  in  our  stomach  is  performed  after 
a manner  imperceptible,  wherein  all  is  quiet  and  silent,  provided  the 
Meats  and  Drinks  be  of  a suitable  Quality  and  not  too  great  in 
Quantity.”  But  in  alcoholic  fermentation — “when  the  sleeping 
silent  Powers  or  original  Properties  in  all  sweet  Liquors  or  Juice,  are 
disturbed,  as  they  are  in  a full  or  strong  Ferment,  all  the  Art  in  the 
World  cannot  incircle  or  tame  them  ; for  Fermentation  is  an  opposite 
and  contrary  motion  to  Nature  and  threatens  the  total  destruction  of 
the  whole — being,  as  it  were,  a Death  to  the  United  Powers  and  Uni- 
form Principles,  a destruction  of  Multiplication  and  prevention  of  all 
farther  Progression — and  does,  as  it  were,  in  a moment  disunite — the 
original  Forms  become  tumultuous,  each  Form  with  a rapid  invading 
Motion  laying,  as  I may  say,  violent  hands  on  the  sweet  original 
Quality  . . . for  Fermentation  in  the  strictest  and  best  Sense,  is  no 
other  than  a certain  vegetative  and  insensible  Delirium  of  Madness ; 
all  its  operations  when  the  Fermented  Liquor  is  strong  and  Spirituous, 


Sugar  never 
converted 
into  alcohol 
in  the 

system,  not 
even  in 
disease. 

The  lethal 
nature  of 
alcoholic 
fermenta- 
tion. 


70 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Alcohol 
inimical 
to  life. 

Jir.  A.  Car- 
lysle  on  this 
point. 


The  in- 
fluence of 
alcohol  on 
the  human 
system, 
subject  to 
various 
qualifying 
conditions. 


§ 30.  The  general  effects  of  alcohol  in  the  animal  world 
are  inimical  to  life.  Dr.  A.  Carlysle,  in  his  work,  On  the 
Pernicious  Effects  of  Fermented  and  Spirituous  Liquors,  as 
Part  of  Human  Piet  (London,  1810),  says  that  “no  living 
animal  or  plant  can  be  supported  by  such  fluids,  ...  on 
the  contrary,  they  all  become  sickly  and  perish  under  their 
influence.”  In  the  animal  world  the  poisonous  nature  of 
alcohol  is  easily  tested.  Put  only  a few  ounces  of  alcohol 
in  a pail  of  water  in  which  are  living  fish,  and  in  a few 
minutes  they  will  die.  Or,  expose  a fly  to  alcoholic  vapour 
in  a closed  vessel,  and  it  will  speedily  die. 

In  treating  of  the  special  effects  of  alcohol  on  the 
human  system,  it  must  be  premised  that  these  effects  are 
greatly  influenced  by  a variety  of  conditions,  such  as  kind 
and  purity  of  the  alcohol  or  alcohols  taken  ; whether 
diluted  or  not ; in  large  or  small  quantities  ; whether  taken 
habitually  or  occasionally ; in  health  or  disease  ; by  children 
or  adults  ; on  full  or  empty  stomachs  ; the  temperament  of 
the  taker,  etc.,  etc.  Still,  excepting  in  rare  instances,  and 
only  when  the  dose  taken  is  very  small,  the  trained  observer 
can  always  trace  harmful  results  from  its  use  by  man ; and 
if  observers  of  the  physiological  effects  of  alcohols  on  man 
had  generally  given  due  consideration  to  each  of  these 
qualifying  conditions,  there  is  good  reason  for  believing 
that  most  of  the  contradictory  results  of  experiments  which 
now  exist  as  a chief  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  this 
study  would  have  been  reconciled  or  removed. 

compotmds.  The  distillate  called  alcohol  consists  of  a variety  of 
poisonous  substances.  Besides  the  ethyl,  amyl,  and  butyl  alcohols, 
there  are  acetic  aldehydes  and  ethers,  essential  oils,  variously  named 
ethereal  and  fusil  oils,  and  a number  of  other  volatile  unknown  com- 
pounds, all  of  which,  when  left  at  liberty,  evaporate  and  dissipate 
beyond  the  ken  of  man. 


are  in  proportion  ; and  the  same  as  being  Disbanded  from  under  the 
Government  of  its  Superior  Officers,  so  soon  as  a quantity  of  it  is 
introduced  into  Man’s  Body,  it  plunders  Nature  of  all  its  Sweet 
Yirtues  by  drying  and  parching  them  up ; and  at  the  same  time 
breaks  the  Government  of  the  Senses,  turning  Reason  and  Wisdom 
adrift ; so  that  the  Body  is  in  no  better  Condition  than  a Ship  without 
either  Pilot  or  Rudder.” — Tryon’s  Letters  (Letter  37,  “Of  Fermen- 
tation”). London,  1700. 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


71 


§ 31.  Alcohol  exercises  two  powerful  influences  on  the 
two  essential  means  of  the  maintenance  of  life — foods  and 
water ; viz.,  retardation  of  the  processes  of  digestion  and 
assimilation  ; and  interference  with  the  aqueous  nature  of 
the  blood,  and  hence  two  general  harmful  results — indi- 
gestion and  thirst,  both  of  which  are  considered  curable 
with  alcohol,  instead  of  with  light,  well-masticated  foods 
and  pure  water,  supplemented,  at  times — in  extreme  cases 
of  indigestion — with  artificial  pepsine,  etc. 

First,  as  regards  the  retardation  of  the  processes  of 
digestion  and  assimilation  of  foods  by  alcohol.  Its  effects 
on  the  two  classes  of  foods  (nitrogenous  and  non-nitro- 
genous)  is  similar,  though  stronger  in  the  case  of  nitro- 
genous foods,  the  albumen  of  which  it  coagulates.  Of 
course  the  larger  and  stronger  the  dose  the  greater  is  its 
influence  on  digestion.  It  is  a fact  of  common  observation 
that  drunkards  may  vomit  half-digested  or  wholly  un- 
digested food,  hours  and  days  after  its  ingestion,  showing 
the  power  alcohol  has  to  prevent  digestion. 

But  when  alcohol  is  taken  in  small  doses  only,  it  is  said 
to  have  quite  a different  effect — that  of  promoting  instead 
of  hindering  digestion,  by  inciting  a copious  flow  of  the 
gastric  secretion. 

The  use  of  artificial  means  to  restore  natural  processes 
to  their  original  health,  is  the  kind  of  work  for  which  the 
physician  is  especially  educated,  and  the  means  so  used 
come  under  the  general  head  of  medicine.  If  alcohol  acts 
as  a promoter  of  digestion,  it  is  acting  as  a medicine,  and 
therefore  belongs  to  the  medicine  chest  and  cannot  be  pre- 
scribed as  a beverage,  and  should  be  treated  of  in  this 
regard  under  the  head  of  therapeutics. 

But  the  fact  of  the  very  general  belief  in  and  use  of 
alcohol  as  an  excellent  tonic  of  digestion  makes  it  necessary 
to  deal  with  it  here. 

In  health,  digestion  is  a natural  process,  which  not  only 
does  not  require,  but  would  be  impaired  by  artificial  pro- 
motion. In  nearly  all  cases  indigestion  arises  from  irregu- 
larity at  meals ; poor,  badly  prepared,  ill-cooked,  and 
insufficiently  masticated  foods  ; want  of  exercise,  or  undue 
and  ill-timed  exercise,  etc.,  etc.,  all  aberrations  from  the 
normal  conduct  of  the  body. 


Alcohol’s 
twofold 
hurtful  in- 
fluence on 
nutrition. 


Its  effects  in 

retarding 

digestion. 


72 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Prof.  Dogiel 
on  the 
rapidity 
of  its 
entrance 
into  the 
blood. 


A wise  physician  is  familiar  with  these  things,  and 
knows  that  a return  to  obedience  to  the  simple  laws  of 
health  will  generally  remove  indigestion,  and  that  artificial 
means  are  the  last  that  can  he  properly  resorted  to  ; and 
that  when  such  are  required,  artificial  pepsine  and  a number 
of  harmless  compounds  will  serve  his  purpose. 

A profuse  amount  of  gastric  juice  will,  no  doubt,  digest 
food  more  rapidly  than  a small  amount,  and  therefore 
the  abundant  secretion  of  gastric  juice  provoked  by  the 
daily  taking  of  a small  amount  of  alcohol  may  for  some 
time  promote  digestion. 

But  to  urge  digestion  is  no  more  desirable  than  to  urge 
growth.  What  is  pre-eminently  desirable  is  that  these 
processes  shall  be  natural;  that  there  shall  be  no  extortion, 
which  always  involves  two  very  bad  things — exhaustion 
and  waste. 

By  the  enormous  exudation  which  alcohol  causes  from 
the  walls  of  the  stomach  the  alcohol  is  diluted  and  rendered 
less  acrid.  Unless  the  dose  of  alcohol  be  large,  it  is 
very  quickly  diluted  and  absorbed  into  the  blood  to  pre- 
vent its  acting  mischievously  on  the  digestion  and  the 
stomach.  In  this  process  the  intense  affinity  between 
alcohol  and  water  plays  an  important  part.  Blood,  as  has 
been  shown,  consists  overwhelmingly  of  water,  and  water 
is  promptly  diffused  into  the  alcohol  in  the  stomach, 
at  the  same  time  that  the  alcohol  is  absorbed  from  the 
stomach  into  the  blood  by  the  water  in  it.  The  arrest  of 
the  digestion,  therefore,  is  more  or  less  affected  and  quickly 
superseded,  by  the  completeness  and  rapidity  of  the 
entrance  of  the  alcohol  into  the  blood  current. 

Prof.  Dogiel,  in  a paper  on  Monatomic  Alcohols , read 
to  Bussian  savants  at  Kasan,  in  1873,  said  that  the 
alcohol  can  be  detected  in  the  chyle  of  the  thoracic  duct, 
as  well  as  in  the  blood,  a minute  and  a half  after  its  intro- 
duction to  the  stomach. 

Now,  the  solving  power  in  the  gastric  juice  is  the 
pepsine,  as  we  know,  but  this  is  itself  insoluble  in  alcohol, 
and  when  mixed  with  alcohol,  is  hindered  in  its  own  office 
by  the  coagulating  influence  alcohol  exerts  on  the  foods. 

Drs.  Todd  and  Bowman,  in  their  work,  The  Physiological 
Anatomy  and  Physiology  of  Man  (London,  1856,  chap.  xxiv. 
On  Digestion),  say,  “The  use  of  alcoholic  stimulants  also 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


73 


retards  digestion,  by  coagulating  tbe  pepsine,  and  thereby 
interfering  with  its  action.  Were  it  not  that  wine  and 
spirits  are  rapidly  absorbed,  the  introduction  of  them  into 
the  stomach  in  any  quantity  would  be  a complete  bar  to 
the  solution  of  the  food,  as  the  pepsine  would  be  pre- 
cipitated from  solution  as  quickly  as  it  was  secreted  by  the 
stomach.” 

It  must,  however,  be  noted  that  the  alcohol,  though 
apparently  helpful  at  the  moment  by  procuring  a profuse 
flow  of  gastric  juice,  secures  this  temporary  effect  at  the 
cost  of  great  waste  of  this  precious  fluid,  not  only  at  the 
time,  but  by  necessitating — because  of  the  degradation  of 
the  blood  of  which  gastric  juice  is  an  outcome — larger  and 
larger  recurrent  demands  upon  it,  while  steadily  im- 
poverishing it  in  quality  and  weakening  the  activity  of  its 
solving  power,  the  pepsine  ; and  the  stomach  must  ulti- 
mately become  bankrupt  from  these  extortions,  and  indi- 
gestion, with  its  train  of  countless  diseases,  must  ensue. 

Dr.  F.  R.  Lees,  in  his  essay,  Is  Alcohol  a Medicine  ? 
(London,  1866),  admirably  sums  up  the  effects  of  alcohol 
on  digestion  and  the  stomach  in  these  words  : — - 

“ Should  it  be  objected  that,  though  alcohol  cannot 
directly  give  force,  it  can  aid  the  stomach  to  digest  more 
food,  which  will  ultimately  supply  the  material  of  tissue,  I 
reply,  this  is  a blunder  in  inference  and  a mistake  in  fact. 
For,  firstly,  alcohol  has  no  advantage  as  a local  stimulant 
over  a little  ginger  or  pepper,  in  exciting  a flow  of  juice, 
but,  as  an  anaesthetic,  interferes  with  perfect  alimentation, 
and,  in  especial,  arrests  that  change  of  matter  in  the  body 
which  supplies  the  valuable  material  of  the  gastric  juice 
itself.  Hence,  secondly,  while  more  fluid  may  flow,  it  is 
not  so  strong  in  its  digestive  power.  This,  thirdly,  agrees 
with  fact,  since  abstainers  have  better  and  more  regular 
appetites  than  moderate  drinkers,  and  can  eat  and  digest 
more.  Fourthly,  alcohol  irritates  the  mucous  surface  of 
the  debilitated  stomach,  though  it  may  deaden  the  feeling 
of  pain  for  a while.  Fifthly,  experiments  have  often  proved 
that  alcohol  retards  digestion,  hardening  the  food  and  pre- 
cipitating  the  pepsine  of  the  digestive  juice.” 

The  effects  of  alcohol  on  the  stomach  itself  depend,  of 
course,  upon  the  relative  rapidity  with  which  the  alcohol 


Alcohol  a 
prolific 
source  of 
chronic 
indigestion. 


Dr.  F.  R. 
Lees’  sum- 
mary of  the 
effects  of 
alcohol  on 
digestion. 


74 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


I)r.  William 
Beaumont’s 
experiment 
on  the 
stomach  of 
the  Canadian 
hunter, 

St.  Martin. 


is  drawn  into  the  blood  current,  which  in  turn  depends 
greatly  upon  the  relative  amount  and  dilution  of  the 
alcohol  (and  the  proportion  of  salts  and  ethers  in  the 
alcoholic  liquor)  at  any  one  time  present  in  the  stomach  ; 
the  relative  health  and  age  of  the  talcer ; the  familiarity  of 
his  stomach  with  alcohol ; the  power  and  activity  of  the 
excrementory  organs,  etc.,  etc.,  all  of  which  are  considera- 
tions absolutely  essential  to  a scientific  prescription  of 
alcohol  as  a promoter  of  digestion,  and  some  of  which 
are  quite  beyond  certainty  of  calculation.  In  one  word 
— even  on  the  assumption  that  alcohol  may  be  used  as  a 
medicine,  it  is  quite  clear  that  no  general  prescription  of 
it  could  ever  be  justifiable,  but  that  prescription  of  it  must 
always  be  based  on  a careful  diagnosis  of  each  particular 
case. 

If  the  stomach  is  little  accustomed  to  alcohol  and  the 
dose  taken  is  not  very  large,  the  damage  done  by  it  in  a 
fairly  healthy  adult  organism  is  comparatively  small.  The 
water  yielded  by  the  mucus  of  the  stomach,  as  well  as  by 
the  increased  flow  of  the  gastric  juice,  for  the  dilution  of 
the  alcohol,  together  with  the  rapid  absorption  of  the 
alcohol  into  the  blood,  co-operate  to  lessen  the  injury  to 
the  mucous  membrane  of  the  stomach. 

Still,  the  results  of  the  ingestion  of  alcohol  are  never 
innocent,  and  how  little  feelings  and  general  signs  indicate 
the  real  condition  of  the  stomach,  even  after  liberal  in- 
dulgence in  alcohol,  was  conclusively  demonstrated  in  Dr. 
William  Beaumont’s*  Experiments  and  Observations  on  the 
Gastric  Juice  and  the  Physiology  of  Digestion  (Plattsburg, 
1833).  His  observations  were  based  on  the  phenomena 
exhibited  in  the  famous  case  of  the  Canadian  huntsman, 
Alexis  St.  Martin,  who  was  accidentally  shot,  the  ball 
entering  his  side  and  piercing  the  stomach.  He  recovered 
from  the  wound,  but  an  opening  remained,  which  was 
used  “ as  a door  by  which  to  introduce  substances  into  the 
stomach,  and  as  a window  through  which  to  look  in  and 
examine  effects.” 

Dr.  Beaumont  tried  St.  Martin’s  stomach  with  alcohol, 
and  as  this  hunter  had  been  a man  of  temperate  habits  the 
results  were  most  valuable.  After  a few  days  of  free  in- 
dulgence in  spirits  by  St.  Max-tin,  Dr.  Beaumont  made 
* Surgeon- General  of  the  United  States  army. 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


75 


these  observations  by  means  of  the  aperture  in  the  patient’s 
stomach : “ The  inner  membrane  of  the  stomach  unusually 
morbid,  the  erythematous  (inflammatory)  appearance  more 
extensive,  the  spots  more  livid  than  usual — from  the  surface 
of  some  of  which  exuded  small  drops  of  grumous  blood — the 
aphthous  (ulcerous)  patches  larger  and  more  numerous, 
the  mucous  covering  thicker  than  common,  and  the  gastric 
secretions  much  more  vitiated.  The  gastric  fluids  extracted 
were  mixed  with  a large  proportion  of  thick  ropy  mucus, 
and  considerable  muco-purulent  matter,  slightly  tinged  with 
blood,  resembling  the  discharge  from  the  bowels  in  some 
cases  of  chronic  dysentery.  Notwithstanding  this  diseased 
appearance  of  the  stomach,  no  very  essential  aberration  of  its 
functions  was  manifested.  St.  Martin  complained  of  no 
symptoms  indicating  any  general  derangement  of  the 
system,  except  an  uneasy  sensation  at  the  pit  of  the  stomach, 
and  some  vertigo,  with  dimness  and  yellowness  of  vision, 
on  stooping  down  and  rising  again ; had  a thin,  yellowish- 
brown  coat  on  his  tongue,  and  his  countenance  was  rather 
sallow,  pulse  uniform  and  regular,  appetite  good,  rests  quietly, 
and  sleeps  as  usual.”* 

Thus  we  find  that  in  large  doses  alcohol  arrests  diges- 
tion and  damages  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  stomach, 
and  in  the  proportion  that  it  is  undiluted  ; that  in  small 
doses  it  rapidly  leaves  the  stomach  ; that  in  all  except  the 
most  minute  doses  it  provokes  an  extraordinary  flow  of 
secretion  which  is  more  or  less  wasted ; that  this  of  itself — ■ 
if  alcohol  be  habitually  taken — will,  by  constant  overdraw- 
ing on  the  natural  resources  of  the  blood  whence  the  gastric 
juice  is  distilled,  impoverish  the  blood  and  degenerate  the 
gastric  juice,  until  impaired  digestion  becomes  chronic 
indigestion. 

§ 32.  But  we  shall  presently  see  that  the  action  of 
alcohol  in  the  blood  accelerates  this  condition,  because 
alcohol  degrades  the  blood  itself.  As  the  gastric  juice  is 
incapable  of  altering  alcohol,  it  enters  the  blood  as  alcohol ; 
and  as  in  the  blood  is  the  life,  so  anything  injurious  to  the 

# The  next  observations  made  by  Dr.  Beaumont  instanced  the 
rapidity  with  which  St.  Martin’s  stomach  recovered  its  normal  con- 
dition after  a very  few  days’  abstinence,  and  he  adds,  “ The  free  use 
of  ardent  spirits,  wine,  beer,  or  any  intoxicating  liquors,  when  con- 
tinued for  some  days,  has  invariably  produced  these  morbid  changes.” 


Summary  of 
effects  of 
alcohol  on 
digestion. 


76 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  effects 
of  alcohol  on 
the  blood. 


The  food 
elements  in 
alcoholic 
drinks. 


The  Lancet 
on  the 
nutritious 
elements  in 
wines. 


blood  is  burtful  to  life.  As  in  the  case  of  food,  alcohol,  in 
being  drawn  into  the  blood  current,  passes  through  the 
liver.*  The  general  effects  of  alcohol  on  the  blood  (tissue 
in  solution,  both  for  renovation  and  what  has  been  wasted) 
are  to  some  extent  similar  to  those  it  exerts  on  the  food  in 
the  stomach ; it  retards  the  oxidation  of  the  food  portions 
in  the  blood,  and  occupies  as  much  as  it  can  of  the  water 
contained  in  the  blood.  Hence  there  is  an  arrest  of  both 
the  functions  of  the  blood,  the  renewal  of  used-up  tissue, 
and  the  carrying  off  of  the  refuse. 

The  fact  that  alcoholic  liquors  almost  always  con- 
tain some  residual  undecomposed  saccharine  substances, 
which  in  themselves  are  feeding,  and  the  fact  that  practical 
experiments  have  shown  that  under  an  alcoholic  regimen 
there  is  an  increase  of  bodily  weight ; these  two  facts  have 
greatly  helped  to  spread  the  error  that  alcohol  is  food. 
I will  therefore  touch  on  these  two  points  before  pro- 
ceeding with  the  question  of  alcohol  and  the  blood. 

§ 33.  It  has  already  been  shown  that  alcohol  itself  is 
not  food  ; that  if  food  exists  in  alcoholic  drinks  it  is  not 
found  in  the  alcohol,  and  therefore  unsweetened  spirituous 
liquors  which  (minus  adulterations)  consist  almost  wholly 
of  alcohol'  and  water,  are  not  feeding — a truth  made 
apparent  in  the  lean  and  wasted  appearance  of  spirit- 
drinkers.  In  the  case  of  drinkers  of  sweetened  spiritous 
liquors  this  truth  is  less  manifest,  and  is  apparently  quite 
contradicted  in  the  case  of  the  consumer  of  malt  liquors, 
by  a robust  and  rosy  appearance. 

It  has  already  been  seen  from  Dr.  Klein’s  testimony 
regarding  the  use  of  wine  by  the  French  troops  during 
the  siege  of  Paris,  that  wine,  used  as  food,  proved  useless 
and  worse  than  useless.  An  analytical  report  in  the 
Lancet  (Oct.  26,  1867)  says,  as  to  the  real  amount  of 
nutritious  elements  found  in  wines  : — 

“ In  every  1000  grain  measures  of  the  clarets  and 
burgundies  tested,  the  mean  amount  of  albuminous  matter 
present  was  only  lir  grain,  whilst  in  1000  grains  by  weight 
of  raw  beef  there  are  no  less  than  207  grains  of  such 
matter.  That  is,  the  quantities  being  equal,  beef-steak  is 

* In  chapter  vi.  it  will  be  seen  that  the  organ  which,  next  to 
the  brain,  suffers  most  from  alcohol,  is  the  liver. 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


77 


156  times  more  nutritious  than  wine  ” so  far  as  albumen 
is  concerned. 

Of  course  this  is  not  a fixed  standard  as  to  wines, 
which  vary  in  the  amount  of  food  they  contain  (see  chap, 
iv.  on  “ Adulterations  ”)  according  to  the  perfection  of  the 
vinification.  The  poorer  that  is,  the  greater  the  proportion 
of  undecomposed  residual  food  matters,  but  the  more 
dangerous  also  are  these,  especially  as  producers  of  gout. 

But  malted  liquors,  beer,  ale,  and  stout,  are  commonly 
supposed  to  be  not  only  innocent  but  healthy  and 
nutritious ; and  that  this  notion  is  spreading  appears 
from  the  fact  that  during  late  years  the  number  of  beer- 
drinkers  is  on  the  increase  in  almost  all  countries,  and  for 
this  reason  I wish  to  deal  with  the  beer  question  more  in 
detail. 

Some  consider  malt  liquors  to  he  harmless  on  the 
erroneous  supposition  that  they  do  not  contain  the  same 
alcohols  as  other  intoxicants ; others  base  their  notion  of 
the  innocency  of  such  liquors  on  their  knowledge  that 
they  ordinarily  contain  but  a comparatively  small  amount 
of  alcohol,  and  are  therefore  comparatively  harmless. 
Malt  liquors  are  held  to  be  nutritious  because  they  are 
prepared  from  malt,  and  because  malt-liquor  drinkers 
usually  grow  fat  and  bear  a superficial  appearance  of  health. 

In  chapter  iii.  it  was  shown  that  the  intoxicating  prin- 
ciple in  all  unadulterated  alcoholic  drinks  is  the  alcohol, 
and  therefore,  whether  taken  in  large  or  small  quantities, 
the  tendencies  to  structural  degeneration  and  the  develop- 
ment of  the  “ drink-crave  ” are  the  same  in  small  beer  as 
in  rum  or  whisky.  The  glass  of  beer  prepares  the  palate 
for  the  glass  of  whisky,*  just  as  the  taking  of  the  penny  or 
shilling  prepares  the  way  for  the  theft  of  the  pound.  The 
incipient  stages  of  a downward  career  are  nearly  always 

* Beer-drinking  is  usually  the  starting-point  for  becoming  a 
drunkard,  and  malt  liquors  are  especially  dangerous  by  reason  of  the 
salt  put  into  them.  In  an  article  on  Drinks  and  Drinking  ( Eng- 
lish Mechanic,  December  8,  1882),  Dr.  James  Edmunds  says,  “One 
reason  why  beer-drinkers  go  back  so  soon  and  so  repeatedly  to  the 
public-house  is  because  salt  is  put  into  their  beer  for  them  ; the  salt 
gives  a certain  piquancy  to  the  flavour  of  the  beer  by  irritating  the 
nerves  of  the  tongue,  and  it  serves  also  to  set  the  kidneys  going,  and 
bring  the  customer  back  to  the  public-house.” 


Malt  liquors 

specially 

considered. 


78 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr.  Lyon 
Playfair  on 
the  relative 
feeding 
powers  of 
barley  and 
malt. 


The  food  in 
alcoholic 
drink  is  not 
in  the 
alcohol,  but 
in  the 
residuals. 


seemingly  innocent,  but  when  the  sincere  mind,  perceiving 
the  danger,  resists  the  insidious  approach  of  evil,  it  quickly 
discovers  that  the  gentle,  scarcely  perceptible  first  slips — 
full  of  specious  compromise  and  self-deception — hold  the 
essence  of  the  deepest  fall  possible. 

As  to  the  last  point  urged  in  favour  of  beer-drinking, 
that  it  gives  bulk  and  ruddy  complexion,  and  hence  that 
the  barley  in  the  beer  must  be  as  nutritions  as  it  is  in  the 
loaf ; it  will  be  seen  that  this  also  is  fallacious.  Malt 
liquors  consist  of  from  three  to  thirteen  per  cent,  of  alcohol, 
with  more  or  less  undecomposed  albuminous  residues  of  the 
saccharine  matters  in  the  malt,  -with  some  salts — and  to 
this  extent,  therefore,  beer  is  food.  But,  in  the  first  place, 
malt  is  not  quite  so  nutritious  as  grain. 

In  speaking  of  the  feeding  of  cattle  with  malt  or  barley, 
Dr.  Lyon  Playfair  says,  “ Barley  in  the  act  of  germinating 
loses  a certain  amount,  both  of  the  constituents  which 
form  the  flesh  and  those  which  form  the  fat  of  the  animal. 
A given  weight  of  barley  is  therefore  of  greater  nutritious 
value,  both  as  regards  the  production  of  muscle  and  fat, 
than  the  same  weight  converted  into  malt.”* 

It  must  be  recollected  that  malt,  in  being  turned  into 
alcohol,  goes  through  a process,  like  the  grape  and  potato, 
of  organic  degradation,  and  therefore,  though  malt  is 
food,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  alcohol  made  from  malt  is 
food.  In  fact,  if  there  is  food  iu  the  alcoholic  drinks, 
whether  malted  or  spirituous,  it  is  not  in  the  alcohol,  but 
in  the  residual  substances  that  remain  undecomposed. 

The  fat  in  the  beer-drinker  is  composed  of  these 
albuminous  residues,  which,  having  been  alcoholized,  resist 
the  action  of  the  various  solvents  in  the  system,  and 
therefore,  being  neither  fit  for  use  in  the  body  nor  re- 
ducible to  a form  in  which  they  can  be  excreted,  they 
have  to  be  stored  away  so  as  to  prevent  obstruction  to  the 

* Dr.  Edmunds  kindly  writes  me  on  tliis  point : “ I am  not  sure 
that  Dr.  Playfair  has  seen  the  whole  truth  in  relation  to  the  use  of 
malted  grain  as  food  for  cattle.  Granting  that  the  quantity  of 
energy  derivable  from  malted  grain  is  less  than  that  from  unmalted 
grain,  the  question  remains  whether  the  greater  solubility  of  the 
saccharized  starch  in  malted  grain  does  not  in  some  cases  ensure 
more  perfect  absorption  into  the  system,  and  thus  that  in  food  value, 
for  the  practical  purposes  of  fattening,  malted  grain  may  be  of  more 
value  than  unmalted.” 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


79 


circulation,  and  hence,  so  long  as  there  is  room,  they  are 
packed  away  immediately  under  the  skin,  and  thus  the 
fat  and  healthy  appearance  of  the  beer-drinker ! When 
there  is  no  more  room  immediately  under  the  skin,  the  fat 
has  to  be  deposited  in  the  interior  of  the  body,  and  hence 
the  common  diseases  of  fatty  degeneration  of  the  kidneys, 
liver,  heart,  etc. 

Dr.  J.  W.  Beaumont,  in  an  address  on  alcohol  and  i>r.  j.  w. 
nutrition  (Sheffield,  1863),  alluding  to  the  fact  that  fheea Xaracter 
brewers’  men,  who  almost  subsist  on  malt  liquors,  are  of  the  fat  in 
remarkably  fat,  said,  “ This  is  conceded,  but  their  stout-  ofmait-6™ 
ness  does  not  arise  from  the  alcohol.  Where  obesity  “rqY£rers 
results  from  drinking  malt  liquors,  it  is  from  the  nutri- 
ment contained  in  the  saccharine  portion  of  the  con- 
stituents of  the  beverage,  and  not  from  the  alcohol.” 

Dr.  T.  Lauder  Brunton,  in  his  paper  on  the  Influence  pr.  T.  L. 
of  Stimulants  and  Narcotics  on  Health  (contributed  to  the  ^r™j™e011 
Book  of  Health,  1883),  says  that  “ Wine  has  a less  power- 
ful local  effect  upon  the  stomach  and  intestines,  and  is 
less  likely  to  destroy  the  digestive  powers,  than  spirits. 

At  the  same  time  it  does  not  contain  any  nutritious  sub- 
stances in  addition  to  alcohol,  and  so  it  does  not  tend  of 
itself  to  fadten.  Consequently,  the  wine-drinker  is  neither 
emaciated  like  the  gin-drinker,  nor  bloated  like  the  beer- 
drinker.  As  the  beer-drinker  takes  beer  in  addition  to 
other  nutriment,  he  has  a tendency  to  become  fat  and 
bloated  at  one  time,  although  he  may  afterwards  become 
thin  and  emaciated,  from  his  digestion  also  suffering  like 
that  of  the  spirit-drinker.  Notwithstanding  the  apparent 
stoutness  and  strength  of  beer- drinkers,  they  are  by  no 
means  healthy.  Injuries  which  to  other  people  would  be 
but  slight,  are  apt  to  prove  serious  in  them  ; and  when  it 
is  necessary  to  perform  surgical  operations  upon  them,  the 
risk  of  death  is  very  much  greater  than  in  others.” 

The  credit  of  the  discovery  that  alcohol  is  a food  because  Dr-  Ham- 
it  tends  to  increase  the  bodily  weight,  belongs  to  Dr.  W.  alcohol  being 

A.  Hammond,  of  New  York,  who,  after  practical  experi-  a f,,od  (l6: 

1-  ip  . ' . r.  7 . r cause  of  its 

ments  upon  himseli,  explains  m Jus  Fhysio Logical  Effects  tissue- 

of  Alcohol  and  Tobacco  upon  the  Human  System  (Phila-  properties, 
delphia,  1863), that  alcohol  is  a food,  because  it  “increases 
the  weight  of  the  body  by  retarding  the  metamorphosis 


80 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  meaning 
of  alcoholic 
preservation 
of  tissue. 


of  the  old  and  promoting  the  formation  of  new  tissnes, 
and  limiting  the  consumption  of  fat.”  In  an  address  to 
the  Hew  York  Neurological  Society  (1874),  Dr.  Hammond 
(its  president)  reiterated  these  opinions,  enlarging  upon 
them  in  these  words : “ There  are  two  facts  which  cannot 
he  laid  aside,  and  these  are,  that  the  body  gained  in 
weight,  and  that  the  excretions  wei’e  diminished  when 
alcoholic  fluids  were  taken.  These  phenomena  were  doubt- 
less due  to  the  following  causes : first,  the  retardation  of 
the  decay  of  the  tissues  ; second,  the  diminution  in  the 
consumption  of  fat  in  the  body  ; and  third,  the  increase  of 
the  assimilative  powers  of  the  system,  by  which  the  food 
was  more  completely  appropriated  and  applied  to  the 
formation  of  tissues.  After  such  results,”  says  Dr.  Ham- 
mond, “ are  we  not  justified  in  regarding  alcohol  as 
food  ? If  it  is  not  food,  what  is  it  ? ” Hence,  Dr.  Ham- 
mond concludes  that  alcohol  is  food,  because  it  preserves 
tissue ! 

Irrespective  of  any  scientific  knowledge,  it  ought  to  he 
obvious  that,  if  alcohol  reduces  appetite,  and  therefore 
consumption  of  food,  and  yet  increases  weight,  it  must  be 
doing  harm. 

But  it  is  difficult  to  understand  what  benefit  is  expected 
to  he  derived  from  the  tissue-preserving  properties  of 
alcohol.  Tissue-preservation,  if  it  means  anything,  must 
mean  disease,  just  as  much,  though  in  an  opposite  sense, 
as  fever  means  disease ; because  tissue-preserving  can 
mean  nothing  else  hut  interference  with  the  natural  re- 
novation and  depuration  of  the  system,  and  that  can 
scarcely  he  pointed  to  as  an  advantage,  except  presumably 
for  prolonging  life  during  starvation — a presumption  with- 
out foundation — and  possibly  in  wasting  fevers,  in  which 
case,  however,  there  would  be  required  an  intelligent  com- 
putation as  to  whether  or  not  the  retarded  oxidation 
would  adequately  compensate  for  the  impairment  of  the 
blood. 

Health  requires  a proper  balance  between  want  and 
supply,  and  anything  disturbing  this  balance  produces 
disease — and  retarded  oxidation,  which  disturbs  both  of 
the  processes  which  make  the  health  balance,  can  be  nothing 
but  disease. 

As  to  the  increase  of  his  weight  recorded  by  Dr.  Ham- 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


81 


mond,  it  might  be  due  to  conditions  contrary  to  health. 
It  is  really  curious  what  importance  is  attached  to 
weight.  It  is  well  known  that  people  of  light  weight 
have  as  good  health,  as  much  energy,  capacity,  and  endur- 
ance, as  heavy  people,  and  very  generally  more,  and  that 
there  are  both  light  and  heavy  people  who  equally  lack 
these  precious  blessings.  Of  course  circumstances  alter 
cases.  Weight  tells  in  forcing  one  through  a crowd  or 
mob  ; boatmen  and  blacksmiths  need  it,  but  neither  the 
athlete  nor  the  boatman  will  use  alcohol  to  increase  his 
weight ! 

§ 34.  Let  us  now  return  to  the  consideration  of  the 
effects  alcohol  has  on  the  blood,  and  in  the  course  of  the 
argument  the  real  character  of  alcoholic  tissue-preserva- 
tion will  also  become  further  apparent. 

In  the  opening  of  this  chapter  it  was  pointed  out  that 
blood  is  tissue  in  solution  (water  solution).  On  the  main- 
tenance of  the  purely  aqueous  character  of  the  blood,  the 
supply  and  scavenging  of  the  tissues  greatly  depend  ; and 
no  substance  is  innocent  which,  entering  the  blood, 
materially  alters  this  condition.  Alcohol  falls  by  this  test. 
Its  coagulating  and  dissolving  powers — which,  thanks  to 
the  rapidity  of  its  entrance  into  the  blood,  are  not  allowed 
at  once  to  ruin  the  digestion  and  the  stomach — have  freer 
play  in  the  blood-current,  though  the  profuse  saturation 
does  lessen  its  harmful  effects. 

Alcohol  being  itself  a feebly  oxidized  body,  it  is  eager 
to  absorb  oxygen  wherever  obtainable.  The  life-processes 
of  the  body  depend  on  the  combustion  which  continually 
goes  on  in  all  its  parts.  As  was  shown  in  chapter  iii., 
oxygen  is  an  essential  factor  in  this  process,  hence  the 
large  proportion  of  oxygen  in  the  body — and  it  is  the 
function  of  the  blood-corpuscles  to  carry  oxygen  to  all 
portions  of  the  system.  Alcohol,  because  of  its  feeble 
oxidation,  in  entering  the  blood,  seizes  on  this  oxygen 
and  takes  as  much  of  it  as  it  can ; and,  of  course,  the 
greater  the  amount  of  alcohol,  the  more  oxygen  does  it 
withdraw  from  the  blood,  and  hence  the  more  is  the  com- 
bustion in  the  body  retarded.  And  in  the  measure  that 
the  blood-corpuscles  are  robbed  of  oxygen,  in  that  ratio 
do  they  also  become  degenerated. 

The  German  Dr.  Carl  H.  Schulz,  as  long  ago  as  1834, 

G 


Special  con- 
sideration of 
the  influence 
of  alcohol  on 
the  blood. 


Dr.  Carl  H. 
Schulz  on 


82 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


alcoholic 
degeneration 
of  the  blood. 


Dr.  Dumas, 
the  physi- 
ologists 
Bocker  and 
Virschow, 
Dr.  Baer, 
Prof.  Her- 
mann, and 
Prof.  Dogiel 
on  the  same. 


demonstrated*  that  alcohol  produces  premature  decay  and 
death  of  the  blood-corpuscles.  “ The  colouring  matter,”  he 
says,  “ is  dissolved  out  of  them,  the  white  corpuscles  lose 
their  vitality,  less  oxygen  can  he  absorbed,  and  less  carbon 
carried  off.”  (Dr.  Dumas  attributes  the  alcoholic  degenera- 
tion of  the  blood  to  the  action  of  alcoholic  ferments  feeding 
on  the  albuminous  portions  of  the  saccharine  fluids  in  the 
blood.)  And  later  experiments  by  such  physiologists  as 
Bocker  and  Virschow  led  to  similar  conclusions ; and  Dr. 
Baer,  in  his  Alcoholismus  (Berlin,  1878),  quotes  Prof.  Her- 
mann, of  Zurich,  who,  after  experimenting  with  blood  mixed 
with  alcoholic  vapour,  describes  the  result  as  follows  : — 
“ It  soon  became  apparent  that  the  yellow  blood  chains  or 
rolls,  separate  into  their  corpuscles,  growing  gradually  paler 
until  they  wholly  vanish.”  And  Prof.  Dogiel  (op.  cit.) 
says  that  alcohol  rapidly  causes  the  amoeboid  movements 
of  the  white  corpuscles  to  cease,  and  that  at  a certain  con- 
centration the  alcohol  dissolves  both  the  rvhite  and  the  red 
corpuscles.  This  fact  is  further  confirmed  by  the  con- 
dition observed  in  alcoholized  blood  when  out  of  the  body. 
Prof.  Dogiel  observed  that  blood  from  an  animal  under 
the  influence  of  alcohol  coagulates  more  slowly,  and  yields 
less  fibrine  than  normal  blood.  He  further  found  that  if 
ethyl-alcohol  be  added  to  blood  drawn  from  an  artery, 
putrefaction  is  retarded.  This  would  seem  to  indicate  that 
the  rate  of  putrefaction  is  very  considerably  determined 
by  the  amount  of  alcohol  present  in  a corpse.  He  also 
found  that  arterial  blood  obtained  from  an  intoxicated 
animal  decomposes  more  quickly  than  the  normal  blood. 
Prof.  Dogiel  does  not  explain  this,  but  it  seems  probable 
that  it  is  because  alcohol  prevents  healthy  blood  oxidation, 
and  checks  the  removal  of  waste  ; thus  the  blood  becomes 
impaired  and  fetid,  and  when  let  out  of  the  body,  the 
alcohol  evaporates,  and  the  decomposing  matters  already 
in  the  body  will  then,  of  course,  more  rapidly  decompose 
than  would  healthy  blood. f If  the  blood  contains  about 

* See  De  alimentorum  coctione  experiment  a nova  (Berlin,  1S34), 
and  Die  Wirhung  des  Branntweins  in  der  Trunhsucht , in  Hofeland’s 
Journal  fur  pract.  Heilkunde,  April,  1841. 

f An  indicator  of  impoverishment  of  the  blood  is  the  hair. 
In  an  old  work,  entitled  Letter  on  the  Unwholesomeness  and 
Destructiveness  of  Fermented,  Distilled,  and  Spirituous  Liquors,  which 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  EESULTS. 


83 


one  per  cent,  of  alcohol  the  vital  functions  are  extinguished, 
as  the  flame  of  a candle  is,  in  air  containing  a certain  pro- 
portion of  carbonic  acid.  About  one-half  per  cent,  of 
alcohol  in  the  blood  produces  drunkenness  so  profound 
that  all  but  the  purely  animal  centres  of  nerve-life  are  in 
a state  of  suspended  animation  ; life  continues,  but  only 
as  the  smoky  flame  of  a candle  burns  in  air  surcharged 
with  carbonic  acid. 

Thus  the  whole  process  of  nutrition  becomes  vitiated  Alcoholic 
through  the  ingestion  of  alcohol.  The  blood,  impoverished  ofthelkod” 
itself,  and  robbed  largely  of  oxygen  (the  means  necessary  in  relation  to 
for  its  purification),  can  only  partially  fulfil  its  offices  of  oftheUssues! 
carrying  new  matter  to  the  tissues,  and  of  removing  the 
used-up  tissue ; and  the  alcohol,  at  the  same  time,  hardens 
both  the  materials  for  new  tissue  making  in  the  blood, 
and  the  refuse  matter;  and  this  refuse,  which  in  the  ordi- 
nary course  of  healthy  conditions  would  be  cast  out,  is 
largely  retained  in  the  blood. 

The  German  Dr.  Boker,  by  a well-devised  and  carefully  Results  of 
excuted  series  of  experiments,  proved  that  the  presence  of  ^piSmints 
alcohol  in  the  living  system  actually  diminished  the  sum  regarding 
total  of  elimination  of  effete  matter  daily.  ussue-pre- 

The  character  of  the  alcoholic  tissue-preservation  is  servation. 
further  demonstrated  in  its  action  on  the  secretions  from 
the  kidneys.  It  is  well  known  that  alcohol  increases  the 
quantity  of  urine,  but  it  is  not  equally  well  known  that 
the  secretion  of  urea,  which  forms  about  half  the  solid 
matter  in  the  urine,  and  is  the  chief  conveyancer  out  of  the 
body  of  nitrogenous  waste,  is  diminished  by  the  action  of 
alcohol,  and  that  the  portion  by  this  means  left  in  the 
body  is  rank  poison  to  it. 

§ 35.  But  the  harm  alcohol  works  to  the  whole  nutrition 
is  further  intensified  by  its  waste  of  water. 

Water,  as  was  said  in  the  introductory  remarks  on 

was  republished  in  1750,  Dr.  Hales,  a physician  distinguished  for  his 
careful  physiological  investigations,  states — “ It  is  the  well-known 
observation  of  the  dealers  in  hair  for  wigs,  that  they  can  distinguish 
the  dram-drinker’s  hair  by  the  touch,  finding  it  harsh  and  dead- 
ended  and  unfit  for  use.  ...  It  is  also  found  that  these  pernicious 
drams  not  only  alter  the  quality,  but  also,  by  their  drying  and 
corrosive  power,  lessen  the  quantity  of  hair ; and,  what  is  a melancholy 
proof  of  the  great  prevalence  of  this  wicked  practice,  there  is  now  so 
much  less  hair  to  be  bought  among  the  lower  people.” 


84 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Water  the 
scavenger 
and  cleanser 
of  the  body, 
inside  as  well 
as  outside. 


physiology,  is  even  more  important  to  life  than  foods  are, 
and  therefore  a permanently  continued  insufficiency  in 
the  supply  of  water  is  even  more  injurious  than  a com- 
parative insufficiency  of  food. 

Water  is  the  means  for  cleansing  the  inside  as  well  as 
outside  of  the  body.  If  a considerable  portion  of  salt* 
meat,  for  example,  has  been  ingested,  water  is  profusely 
secreted  for  the  dilution  of  its  sharp  principle  and  to  wash 
it  out.  The  blood,  in  consequence  of  this  extra  demand, 
becomes  thick  and  unable  to  supply  the  necessary  fluids  to 
the  tissues ; hence  a call  for  water,  i.e.,  thirst. 


How  alcohol,  besides  being  dangerous  to  the  digestion, 
blood,  and  tissues  (in  the  measure  that  it  is  undiluted), 
and  hence  forcing  the  body  in  self-defence  to  saturate  it 
with  water  (as  it  does  an  over-dose  of  salt,  for  example), 

* In  his  prize  essay  On  the  Use  and  Abuse  of  Alcoholic  Liquors  in 
Health  and  Disease  (London,  1849),  Dr.  William  B.  Carpenter 
admirably  exposes  the  assumed  resemblance  between  alcohol  and  salt 
as  an  essential  to  health,  or  at  least  a healthful  commodity.  He  says, 
“ It  has  been  maintained  that  although  alcohol  cannot  itself  serve  as 
an  article  of  nutriment,  yet  that,  like  salt,  it  is  a valuable  adjunct 
to  other  articles  ; and  that,  although  in  large  quantity  it  may  be 
decidedly  noxious,  yet  that  in  small  it  may  be  very  beneficial. 
Now,  strange  to  say,  the  substance  with  which  it  has  been  thus  com- 
pared is  that  of  all  others  to  which  it  will  least  admit  of  being  truly 
likened.  For  salt  is  not  a mere  casual  adjunct  to  our  necessary  food, 
but  is  itself  an  indispensable  ingredient  of  our  diet.  It  is  contained 
in  large  proportion  in  the  blood,  and  in  every  fluid  that  is  secreted 
from  it,  and  enters  into  the  composition  of  most  of  the  tissues.  It  is 
present,  too,  in  most  of  the  ordinary  articles  used  as  food,  vegetable 
as  well  as  animal;  and  when  this  natural  supply  is  deficient,  the 
instinctive  craving,  both  of  man  and  animals,  leads  them  to  resort  to 
other  sources,  from  which  their  bodies  may  derive  the  supply  necessary 
for  the  maintenance  of  their  normal  or  healthful  constitution. 
Moreover,  there  is  a yery  beautiful  provision  in  the  economy  for  the 
immediate  excretion  of  any  superfluity  of  this  substance,  which 
passes  out  of  the  body  nearly  as  rapidly  as  it  is  taken  in ; so  that  it 
is  prevented  from  ever  accumulating  to  an  undue  amount  in  the 
blood ; and  the  only  mischief  which  an  overdose  of  it  can  occasion  is 
the  production  of  a temporary  irritation  of  the  stomach,  occasioning 
a craving  for  water,  which  speedily  works  a cure  by  carrying  off  the 
offending  matter.  Now,  all  that  salt  is,  alcohol  is  not.  It  is  not  one 
of  the  proper  components  of  the  blood  or  of  the  tissues,  and  its 
presence  in  the  circulation  is  entirely  abnormal.  There  is  no  in- 
stinctive or  natural  craving  for  it.” 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


85 


has,  as  before  stated,  a chemical  affinity  for  water,  and 
therefore  occupies  it,  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  the  body 
that  no  more  can  be  spared. 

And  thus  we  have  one  source  of  the  “drink-crave,” 
which,  as  will  be  shown  later  on,  becomes  at  last,  by  the 
degeneration  of  the  nervous  system,  almost  like  a consti- 
tutional need.  “ If  drinking  be  long  continued,”  says  Dr. 
Austin  Flint  (op.  cit.),  “the  assimilative  powers  become 
so  weakened,  that  the  proper  quantity  of  food  cannot  be 
appropriated,  and  alcohol  is  craved  to  supply  a self- 
engendered  want” — (i.e.,  the  want  first  engendered  by 
the  deluding  action  of  alcohol  is  met  and  momentarily 
beguiled,  only  to  be  re-created  by  the  originating  agent 
of  the  want).  “The  organism  may  in  many  instances  be 
restored  to  its  physiological  condition  by  discontinuing 
the  use  of  alcohol ; but  it  is  generally  some  time  before 
the  nutritive  powers  become  active,  and  alcohol  in  the 
meantime  seems  absolutely  necessary  to  existence.” 

The  foe  is  met  by  the  system,  at  the  very  entrance 
(the  mouth),  by  water.  Instantly  that  alcohol  enters  the 
mouth,  it  is  mixed  with  a profuse  secretion  of  saliva,  yielded 
by  the  salivary  glands  in  obedience  to  the  signal  from  the 
nerves  in  the  mouth  communicating  with  them.  Of  course 
the  same  demand  for  water  is  made  everywhere  through- 
out the  body,  in  order  to  quench  the  flames  of  the  burning 
element  as  it  enters  the  stomach,  as  it  courses  through  the 
blood-vessels,  and  as  it  is  expelled  from  the  system. 

It  is  well  known  that,  after  a night’s  drinking  bout,  the 
drinker’s  mouth  in  the  morning  is  hot  and  dry.  Why  ? 
Partly,  no  doubt,  because  of  temporary  paralysis  of  the 
salivary  gland  nerves,  but  also  because  the  drain  upon  and 
waste  of  the  water  of  the  system  has  been  too  great  to  admit 
of  a sufficient  preparation  of  saliva  in  time  for  breakfast. 

And  when  we  remember  that  the  body  consists  of  from 
seventy-five  to  eighty  per  cent,  of  water,  and  that  saliva — 
so  essential  to  digestion  under  the  best  circumstances — is 
more  necessary  than  ever  when  the  whole  nutritive  system 
and  processes  have  been  weakened  and  deranged — it 
becomes  still  more  apparent  how  much  harm  alcohol  does 
to  the  body. 

Owing  to  ignorance  about  alcohol,  the  drinker,  if  he 
can,  meets  the  body’s  demand  for  water  with  some  alcoholic 


The  “ drink- 
crave  ” a 
result  of 
thirst. 

Dr.  Flint  on 
this  point. 


The  exaction 
made  by 
alcohol 
upon  the 
water  of  the 
system. 


The  system’s 
need  of 
water  mis- 


86 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


understood 
as  a need  for 
alcohol. 


The  mischief 
alcohol  does 
to  the  blood- 
vessels. 

Dr.  James 
Edmunds  on 
this  point. 


drink,  i.e.,  alcohol  and  water,  but  he  feels  only  partial  satis- 
faction therefrom,  because  the  water  found  in  the  drink  he 
takes  has  only  been  enough  to  partially  satisfy  the  water 
demand. 

Drinkers  of  alcoholic  beverages  decry  water-drinkers 
for  the  quantities  of  cold  water  they  ponr  down  their 
throats.  As  a matter  of  fact — incontestable  fact — alcohol- 
drinkers  take  a great  deal  more  of  cold  water  than  do 
water-drinkers.  There  is,  of  course,  no  essential  differ- 
ence in  the  systemic  construction  and  needs  of  an  alcohol 
and  a pure-water  drinker.  Both  require  an  equal  amount 
of  water  for  the  performance  of  their  life  functions.  They 
obtain  about  the  same  amount  of  water  from  their  foods, 
although,  as  a rule,  the  pure-water  drinker  eats  more  than 
the  alcohol-drinker,  and  therefore,  perhaps,  ordinarily 
speaking,  gets  somewhat  more  water  from  his  food.  But 
as  to  the  ingestion  of  water  as  water,  the  alcohol- drinker 
must  drink  a great  deal  more  than  the  water-drinker, 
because  not  only  does  the  alcohol-drinker’s  system  have 
continually  to  wash  out  and  dilute  the  alcohol,  but  the 
alcohol  itself  also  calls  for  water  on  its  own  account ; 
hence  further  thirst,  the  call  for  more  water ; and  the  call 
is  met,  but  only  in  connection  with  more  alcohol  also.  And 
the  more  anxiously  the  system  cries  out  for  pure  water  to 
quench  its  thirst,  the  larger  and  stronger  doses  does  the 
ignorant  victim  of  alcohol  pour  down  his  throat ; and  if  not 
stayed  by  the  hand  of  Mercy,  his  thirst  will  not  be  slaked 
except  by  the  waters  of  Death. 

§ 36.  But  it  is  not  only  the  blood  itself  that  is  harmed 
by  alcohol ; just  as  it  wounds  and  scorches  the  mucous 
membrane  of  the  stomach,  so  it  ruins  the  blood-vessels. 

In  his  lecture  on  Alcohol  as  a 'Medicine  (Loudon,  1867), 
Dr.  James  Edmunds  says — 

“ The  blood  carries  certain  earthy  matters  in  it  in  a 
soluble  state,  these  earthy  matters  being  necessary  for  the 
nutrition  of  the  bones  and  other  parts  of  the  body.  You 
all  know  that  when  wine  is  fermented  and  turned  from  a 
weak  sweet  -wine  into  a strong  alcoholic  wine,  you  get 
what  is  called  a ‘ crust  ’ formed  on  the  inside  of  the  bottle. 
What  is  that  crust  ? Why  is  it  formed  F That  ‘ crust  ’ 
consists  of  saline  or  earthy  matters  which  were  soluble  in 
the  saccharine  grape- juice,  but  which  are  insoluble  in  the 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  KESULTS. 


87 


alcoholic  flnid.  We  find  in  drunkards  that  the  blood- 
vessels  get  into  the  same  state  as  the  wine  bottles  from  the 
deposit  in  their  texture  of  earthy  matter  which  has  no 
business  to  be  deposited,  and  forms,  as  it  were,  a ‘ bees- 
wing ’ or  ‘ crust  ’ in  the  blood-vessels  of  the  drunkard,  in 
his  eye,  and  in  all  the  tissues  of  his  body.  The  result  is 
the  tissues  get  weak  and  brittle,  and  in  performing  their 
duties  they  break  down  ; thus  the  blood-vessels  burst  under 
a little  unusual  strain,  and  we  get  apoplexy  and  sudden 
death,  and  paralysis  and  slow  miseries  of  all  sorts.” 

In  a letter  to  me  March  24,  1884,  Dr.  Edmunds  thus 
elucidates  this  point : — Just  as  when  earthy  salts  are 
thrown  out  of  solution  in  ordinary  water  by  merely  boiling 
it,  a fur  is  deposited  inside  the  kettle  ; so  the  wine,  during 
its  maturing  process,  deposits  certain  saline  earthy  matters 
on  the  inside  surface  of  the  bottles,  forming  what  is  called 
the  ‘ beeswing,’  and  wines  in  the  blood  make  similar 
deposits  on  the  sides  of  the  blood-vessels.  The  ‘ beeswing  ’ 
looked  for  by  the  drinker  in  the  wine-bottle,  is  looked  for 
by  the  physician  in  the  eye  of  the  wine-drinker,  as  the 
well-known  arcus  senilis.  This  arcus  senilis  is  only  an  out- 
ward and  visible  sign  of  general  internal  change,  such  as 
earthy  degeneration  of  the  arteries,  fatty  degeneration  of 
the  heart,  cirrhotic  degeneration  of  the  liver  and  kidneys.”* 

And  with  such  attested  results  on  the  blood  and  sir  James 
tissues  from  the  use  of  alcohol,  it  is  no  wonder  that  ^rni'ng 
Sir  James  Paget  should  warn  his  disciples  against  operating  against 
on  drinkers,  even  moderate  ones.  operations  on 

“ Be  rather  afraid,”  he  says,  “ of  operating  on  those,  of  ™derate 
whatever  class,  who  think  they  need  stimulants  before  they 
work  ; who  cannot  dine  till  after  wine  or  bitters ; who 
always  have  sherry  on  the  sideboard  ; or  are  always  sipping 
brandy- and- water  ; or  are  rather  proud  that,  because  they 
can  eat  so  little,  they  must  often  take  some  wine.  Many 
people  who  pass  for  highly  respectable,  and  who  mean  no 


* Dr.  Henry  Munroe,  in  his  lecture  on  the  Physiological  Action  of 
Alcohol  ( Temperance  Tracts,  New  York,  1874),  states  that  “the  eminent 
French  analytical  chemist,  Lecanu,  found  as  much  as  117  parts  of 
fat  in  1000  parts  of  a drunkard’s  blood,  the  highest  estimate  of  the 
quantity  in  health  being  8|  parts,  while  the  ordinary  quantity  is 
not  more  than  two  or  three  parts ; so  that  the  blood  of  the  drunkard 
contains  forty  times  in  excess  of  the  ordinary  quantity.” 


88 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Various 
theories  as 
to  what  be- 
comes of 
alcohol  after 
its  entrance 
into  the 
blood. 


Baron 

Liebig’s 

theory. 


Dr.  Flint  on 
the  function 
of  fat. 


Dr.  Drysdale 
on  the 
relative 


harm,  are  thus  daily  damaging  their  health,  and  making 
themselves  unfit  to  bear  any  of  the  storms  of  life.” 

When  the  effects  of  alcohol  on  the  nervous  system 
come  under  consideration,  it  will  he  seen  how  the  blood- 
vessels suffer  still  further  by  the  paralyzing  tendency  of 
alcohol  on  the  nerves  controlling  the  vascular  system. 

§ 37.  The  next  point  regarding  alcohol  and  the  blood 
is  what  becomes  of  the  alcohol  after  it  has  entered  into  the 
blood-current.  No  point  in  the  whole  alcohol  conti-oversy 
has  been  more  hotly  debated  than  this,  and  even  to-day  the 
medical  world  and  the  physiologists  stand  divided  upon  it, 
in  numerous  camps,  under  many  leaders. 

The  first  really  earnest  endeavours  of  science  to  clear  up 
this  point  are  of  comparatively  recent  date.  The  first 
theory  to  receive  any  general  adherence  was  that  started 
by  Baron  Justus  von  Liebig,  some  forty  years  ago,  viz., 
that  as  alcohol  was  obtained  from  the  heat-generating 
foods,  it  must  be  a heat-generator;  that  just  as  alcohol  in 
being  burned  in  a lamp  is  transformed  into  carbonic  acid 
and  water,  while  its  energy  is  liberated  as  heat,  so  likewise 
is  it  oxidized  in  the  body,  and  transformed  into  the  same 
two  compounds ; and  hence  alcohol  must  be  a heat-gene- 
rator, and,  in  that  sense,  a food.  The  absolute  proof 
recently  obtained  that  a chief  effect  of  the  ingestion  of 
alcohol  is  the  reduction  of  heat,  of  course  disproves 
this  theory  in  toto  • but  there  are  various  other  effects, 
which,  as  will  be  seen  later  on,  militate  against  Liebig’s 
theory. 

His  theory  is,  at  best,  based  on  pure  assumption,  viz., 
that  alcohol  is  to  be  classed  with  sugar  and  fat  as  special 
heat-generators  of  the  body. 

Hr.  Austin  Flint  (op.  cit.)  says  on  this  point,  “ There  is 
no  sufficient  ground  for  supposing  that  fat  has  any  such 
exclusive  function  ” (that  of  producing  heat)  ; “ its  office  is 
in  connection  with  the  general  process  of  nutrition.”  As 
to  sugar,  he  says,  “ In  the  present  state  of  science  we  are 
only  justified  in  saying  that  sugar  is  important  in  the 
process  of  development  and  nutrition  at  all  periods  of 
life.  The  precise  manner  in  which  it  influences  these 
processes  is  not  fully  understood.” 

And  Dr.  Drysdale,  in  a lecture  on  the  death-rate  of 
abstainers  and  non-abstainers  (London,  February  25, 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


89 


1884),  wittily  observed  that  if  alcohol  was  a food,  then 
another  heat-producer,  paraffin,  might  as  well  be  counted 
in  on  the  same  grounds. 

Liebig’s  theory  gained  numerous  adherents,  and  even 
to-day  holds  a place  in  the  medical  world.  Some  fifteen 
years  elapsed  before  any  effective  opposition  could  be  made 
to  it,  but  in  1860  there  appeared  a work  by  three  leading 
French  physicians,  L’Allemand,  Perrin,  and  Duroy,  entitled 
The  Bole  of  Alcohol  (Paris,  1860),  which  took  the  opposite 
view,  declaring  that  alcohol  leaves  the  body  just  as  it 
enters  it,  that  is,  as  alcohol. 

From  numerous  most  careful  experiments  on  animals 
— compared  with  such  as  it  has  been  possible  to  make  on 
man — which  established  the  identicalness  of  alcoholic  effects 
on  beast  and  man,  they  concluded  that  alcohol  is  neither 
oxidized,  i.e.,  converted  into  carbonic  acid  and  water,  nor 
changed  into  aldehydes  and  acetic  acids  in  the  organism, 
but  that  it  remains  unchanged,  and  is  expelled  as  alcohol 
through  the  lungs,  skin,  and  especially  the  kidneys.  Says 
Perrin,  in  his  article  on  the  Physiological  Action  of 
Alcohol  in  the  Encyclopaedic  Dictionary  of  Medical  Sciences 
(Paris,  1865),  “There  is  not  found  in  the  blood  or  the 
expired  air  any  trace  of  the  transformation  or  destruction 
of  the  alcohol.  It  accumulates  in  the  nerve  centres  and  in 
the  liver,  and  finally  it  is  excreted  through  the  diverse 
channels  of  elimination.  Hence  the  conclusion  that  the 
alimentary  role  of  alcohol  has  no  other  pretence  to  . a 
scientific  basis  than  that  of  an  experimental  error.” 

Neither  of  these  opposing  theories  has  been  universally 
accepted,  and  the  great  body  of  physicians  stand  between 
these  two — that  is,  they  believe  that  alcohol  is  in  part 
oxidized  and  in  part  excreted,  unchanged  ; but  they  differ 
widely  as  to  the  amount  oxidized  as  well  as  the  form  of 
oxidation.  The  followers  of  Bergeron  think  that  most  of 
the  alcohol,  after  remaining  some  time,  is  expelled,  and 
a small  part  only  oxidized. 

Prof.  J.  Bauer,  on  the  other  hand,  in  his  Foods  and 
Dietetic  Cure  for  Sick  People,  which  forms  the  first  part 
of  Prof.  Ziemssen’s  Handbook  of  General  Medicine  (Leipsic, 
1883),  affirms  that  the  greater  part  of  alcohol  is  oxidized, 
“ being  changed  into  carbonic  acid  and  water,”  while  “ a 


merits  of 
alcohol  and 
paraffin  as 
respiratory- 
foods. 


Theories  of 
L’Allemand, 
Perrin,  and 
Duroy  as  to 
what  be- 
comes of 
alcohol. 


Dr.  Perrin, 
Prof.  J. 
Bauer,  Drs. 
Bouchurdat 
and  Sandras 
on  the  same. 


90 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Difficulty  of 
arriving  at 
certain  con- 
clusions. 


A possible 
solution  to 
be  found  in 
the  hydro- 
lytic 
ferments. 


small  portion  of  tlie  alcohol  is  in  unchanged  form  put 
forth  from  the  body  through  the  skin,  lungs,  and 
kidneys.” 

Others — as,  for  instance,  Drs.  Bouchardat  and  Sandras, 
and  their  large  following,  who  hold  that  alcohol  is  partly 
oxidized  and  partly  excreted — claim  that  the  oxidized 
portion  is  converted  into  acetic  acid.  An  infinite  variety 
of  opinions  exists  as  to  how  and  in  what  proportion  alcohol 
is  oxidized  or  excreted. 

§ 38.  It  is  a difficult  matter  to  deduce  a tenable  theory 
from  analysis,  comparison,  and  combination  of  the  various 
leading  opinions  on  this  point.  One  thing,  however,  seems 
clear,  that  the  Liebigian  theory  cannot  be  correct,  because, 
were  alcohol  a heat- generator,  the  heat  of  the  body  must 
be  increased  by  the  taking  of  alcohol,  which,  as  we  now 
know  positively,  is  not  the  case. 

This  and  other  arguments  against  the  theory  of  Liebig 
will  be  considered  later  on. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  failure  of  the  most  careful  and 
exact  efforts  to  obtain  from  the  excretions  of  the  body 
anything  like  the  ingested  amount  of  alcohol,  goes  strongly 
against  the  theory  that  all  the  alcohol  passes  through  and 
out  of  the  system,  unchanged. 

Alcohol  is  a baffling  and  mysterious  thing.  Other 
poisons,  vegetable  as  well  as  mineral,  generally  single  out 
some  specially  vulnerable  part  of  the  system  in  which  to 
do  their  fell  work ; but  alcohol  attacks  the  whole  system 
(with  some  special  preference  for  the  liver  and  brain),  by 
this  diffusion  making  both  the  apparent  degeneration  of 
the  system  more  generally  even,  and  hence  less  con- 
spicuous, and  the  tracing  of  its  results  in  the  system  also 
more  difficult.  But  as  under  some  circumstances  portions 
of  alcohol  certainly  disappear,  it  must  be  that  the  body, 
in  some  manner  unknown  to  us,  is  able  to  dispose  of  a 
certain  amount. 

If  Science  would  turn  its  ferreting  eye  in  this  direction, 
it  may  be  that  a clue  to  this  mystery  would  be  found  in 
the  discovery  of  some  compound  in  the  body  of  the  drinker, 
not  existing  in  that  of  the  non-drinker.  It  is  certainly  not 
an  unreasonable  supposition  that  some  of  those  hydrolytic 
(hidden)  ferments,  whose  office  and  functions  so  puzzle  the 
physiologist,  may  have  a part  in  this  mystery  also. 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


91 


One  thing  can  be  affirmed,  that  in  whatever  way 
the  body  may  be  able  to  dispose  of  alcohol,  there  is 
in  that  fact  no  valid  argument  weighing  against  the 
evidence  that  it  is  out  and  out  a poison,  foreign  to  the 
system  (being  found,  if  at  all,  only  in  infinitesimal  traces 
in  the  excrementitious  matters),  and  that  it  damages  and 
deranges  the  whole  nutritive  and  circulatory  processes,  and 
also,  as  will  presently  be  shown,  particularly  injures  the 
nervous  system. 

When  alcohol  is  taken  in  large  doses,  we  know  that 
some  of  it  is  excreted  in  unchanged  form.  A small  part 
goes  direct  from  the  stomach,  out,  as  refuse ; some  is 
evidently  exhaled,  judging  both  from  the  foetid  breath  and 
from  the  fact  that  a small  percentage  of  the  ingested 
alcohol  can  be  traced  in  the  exhalations. 

Dr.  E.  G-.  Figg  (op.  cit.)  says,  “ Though  I might 
propound  a very  ingenious  theory  to  show  that  the  human 
stomach,  with  its  purse-like  cardiac  opening,  is  an  elastic 
bottle,  and  that  the  affinity  of  alcohol  for  water  rather 
than  for  either  of  its  elements,  would  preclude  the  possi- 
bility of  its  decomposition,  I prefer  tangible  facts  to 
plausible  speculation.  Having  induced  an  individual  to 
swallow  a glass  containing  two  ounces  of  spirit  (eleven 
degrees  above  proof),  I made  him  breathe  through  a tube, 
the  opposite  extremity  of  which  was  submerged  in  a 
tumbler  containing  two  ounces  of  water,  covered  with  a 
bladder  skin  to  prevent  evaporation;  the  fluid  became 
speedily  impregnated  with  the  characteristic  odour  of 
alcohol.  To  meet  the  scepticism  which  might  endeavour 
to  establish  an  analogy  between  this  fluid  and  the  essential 
oil  of  lavenders  or  other  fragrant  substance,  the  perfume 
of  which  has  been  known  to  pervade  the  atmosphere  of 
a room  for  weeks  (without  any  appreciable  diminution  in 
the  quantity  or  quality  of  the  original  mass),  and  to  anti- 
cipate the  inference  that  the  bulk  of  the  alcohol  had 
actually  been  decomposed  and  appropriated,  though  from 
its  volatile  nature  an  infinitesimal  portion  had  escaped 
that  process,  and  was  then  being  discharged  at  the  lungs, 
I varied  the  experiment  by  causing  a person  intoxicated 
for  several  hours  to  give  sudden  short  expirations  through 
a tin  funnel  used  for  decanting  liquids,  the  narrow  ex- 


Dr.  E.  G. 
Figg  on  the 
presence  of 
alcohol  in 
the  breath 
and  in  the 
brain. 


92 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Alcohol 
discovered 
in  the 
expirations. 
See  Dr. 
Hinton’s 
Physiology 
for  Practical 
Use  (London, 
1880). 


Alcohol  also 
present  in 
skin  evapo- 
rations. See 
Dr.  E.  Gr. 
Figg. 


JDr.  T.  L. 
Brim  ton  on 
the  same. 


tremity  of  which  was  in  proximity  to  a gas-jet.  The 
contemporaneous  evolution  of  blue  lambent  flame  an- 
nounced the  presence  and  density  of  the  spirit.” 

The  writer  of  the  article  Alcohol  in  Dr.  James 
Hinton’s  Physiology  for  Practical  Use  (London,  1880) 
says,  “ If  the  breath  of  a person  who  has  drunk  so 
little  even  as  a glass  of  light  ale,  containing  three  drachms 
only  of  spirit,  be  conveyed  through  a test  solution  of 
chromic  acid  (one  part  bichromate  of  potash  in  three  hun- 
dred of  pure  sulphuric  acid,  its  delicacy  is  so  great  that 
the  presence  of  -j-hg-  of  a grain  of  alcohol  can  be  detected  by 
it),  the  presence  of  alcohol  can  be  attested  by  a distinct 
colour-change.” 

Alcohol  is  also  under  these  circumstances  traceable  in 
the  urine,  and  in  all  probability  it  is  also  thrown  off  by 
the  skin.  Dr.  E.  G.  Eigg,  in  his  lectures  On  the  Physio- 
logical Operation  of  Alcohol  (Manchester,  1862),  says, 
“ In  alliance  with  the  organs  of  the  lungs  and  liver  we 
have  the  shin,  a depurating  medium.  ...  In  cases  of 
hepatic  obstruction,  as  calculi  in  the  biliary  common  duct, 
the  onus  of  carrying  off  the  bile  is  thrown  on  the  skin  and 
kidneys,  as  evidenced  in  the  surface  of  the  one  and  the 
colour  of  the  secretion  of  the  other— a responsibility  in 
which  the  lungs  and  intestines  do  not  participate,  though 
the  circulation  has  equal  access  to  all.  The  fact  that  the 
skin  aids  the  liver  in  effecting  the  exit  of  noxious  elements 
in  the  circulation,  accounts  for  the  pustular  excrescences 
on  the  face  and  body  of  the  drinker.  It  is  not  the  agency 
of  the  alcohol  which  produces  them,  but  the  carbon ; the 
partial  result  of  the  disintegrated  saccharine  and  adipose 
tissues,  retained  in  the  arterial  vessels  by  the  alcohol 
monopolizing  the  pulmonary  capillaries  in  effecting  its 
escape.” 

Dr.  T.  Lauder  Brunton  (op.  cit .)  says,  “ The  skin  is 
at  first  soft,  with  a slight  satiny  feeling,  from  which  I 
have  seen  Prof.  Neumann  discover  the  alcoholic  ten- 
dencies of  a patient ; and  perspiration  is  easily  induced. 
Later  on,  the  skin  becomes  thick  and  discoloured,  some- 
times red  and  sometimes  sallow,  and  becomes  liable  to 
various  diseases,  the  best  known  of  which  is  acne  rosacea, 
often  called  bottle-nose.  Besides  this,  the  skin  may  be 
affected  with  inflammation  of  various  sorts,  leading  to  the 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


93 


formation  of  ulcers,  vesicular,  scaly,  or  pustular  eruptions, 
toils,  and  abscesses.” 

And  as  the  skin,  besides  its  depurating  office,  is  also 
the  moderation- valve  of  the  heat  in  the  body,  this  affection 
of  the  skin  is  of  great  consequence  to  health. 

As  to  the  action  of  the  kidneys  in  the  elimination  of 
alcohol,  an  eminent  physician  writes  to  me  that  having 
with  a catheter  drawn  off  the  urine  from  a patient  under 
temporary  alcoholic  paralysis  of  the  bladder,  who  was 
therefore  unable  to  pass  it  naturally,  he  found  by  careful 
distillation  that  this  urine  contained  '2275  per  cent,  of 
alcohol ; i.e.,  rather  more  than  4^5  of  its  volume  consisted 
of  absolute  alcohol. 


A certain  amount  of  alcohol  has  been  found  in  various 
parts  of  the  body  of  persons  who  have  died  in  an 
intoxicated  state.  L’Allemand,  Periin,  and  Duroy  (op.  Drs.  L’Aiie- 
cit.)  found  alcohol  in  the  proportion  of  R34  per  cent,  in  and  Duroy  n’ 
the  brain.  They  were,  however,  by  no  means  the  first  to  onaicoiwiin 
make  such  observations.  The  late  Rev.  John  Guthrie,  in 
his  Temperance  Physiology  (Glasgow,  1877),  quotes  the 
following  from  the  statement  made  by  Dr.  William 
Beaumont  in  an  address  to  the  Vale  of  Leven  Temperance 
Society  (in  1830)  as  to  a post-mortem  examination  : — “ ‘ I Dr.  William 
dissected  a man  who  died  in  a state  of  intoxication  after  a the  same.4  °n 
debauch.  The  operation  was  performed  a few  hours  after 
death.  In  two  of  the  cavities  of  the  brain,  the  lateral 
ventricles,  was  found  the  usual  quantity  of  limpid  fluid. 

When  we  smelled  it,  the  odour  of  the  whisky  was  dis- 
tinctly perceptible  ; and  when  we  applied  the  candle  to  a 
portion  in  a spoon,  it  actually  burned  blue— the  lambent 
blue  flame,  characteristic  of  the  poison,  playing  on  the 
surface  of  the  spoon  for  some  seconds.’  Some  doubts 
having  been  expressed  in  regard  to  these  and  other  cases 
of  alcohol  being  detected  in  the  brain,  Dr.  Ogston,  of 
Aberdeen,  said  at  the  time,  ‘ I am  happy  to  be  able  to 
add  one  case  to  their  number.  The  body  of  a woman, 
aged  forty,  of  the  name  of  Cattie,  who  was  believed  to 
have  drowned  herself  in  a state  of  intoxication,  was  found 
on  the  23rd  of  August,  1831,  in  the  Aberdeenshire  Canal. 

In  company  with  another  medical  man,  I was  requested 
to  examine  the  body,  in  order  to  report  the  cause  of 


94 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr.  John 
Percy  on 
the  same. 


Herr  Kuyper 
on  the 
presence  of 
alcohol  in 
the  brain. 


death,  no  one  having  witnessed  the  act.  We  discovered 
nearly  four  ounces  of  fluid  in  the  ventricles,  having  all  the 
physical  qualities  of  alcohol,  as  proved  by  the  united 
testimony  of  two  other  medical  men,  who  saw  the  body 
opened,  and  examined  the  fluid.’  ” 

Dr.  John  Percy,  in  his  essay*  An  Experimental  In- 
quiry concerning  the  Presence  of  Alcohol  in  the  Ventricles 
of  the  Brain  after  Poisoning  by  that  Liquid,  etc.  (Notting- 
ham, 1839),  states  that  by  distilling  blood  drawn  from 
an  alcoholized  system,  he  had  been  able  to  obtain  a fluid 
which,  by  its  dissolving  camphor  and  burning  with  a 
bluish  flame,  proved  itself  to  be  alcohol.  In  the  brain  he 
found  proportionately  still  mor’e,  from  which  he  concluded 
that  a “ kind  of  affinity  existed  between  alcohol  and  the 
cerebral  matter.” 

Dr.  Pigg  (op.  cit .)  mentions  the  following  noteworthy 
case  : — “ John  Carter,  a young  athletic  man,  drank  a pint  of 
rum  at  one  effort,  dying  comatose  half  an  hour  subsequently. 
On  the  authority  of  a coroner’s  warrant,  two  medical  men 
(myself  one)  opened  the  body.  The  mouth,  oesophagus, 
stomach,  cardiac  cavities,  and  lungs  presented  no  appreci- 
able trace  of  the  rum.  Even  on  opening  the  cranium,  we 
found  nothing  to  warrant  a supposition  of  its  presence. 
On  making  a section  into  the  lateral  ventricles,  however,  it 
flowed  out  in  considerable  quantities , altered  in  colour,  with 
its  characteristic  odour.” 

On  this  same  point,  the  Lancet  (October  27, 1883)  says — 

“ In  the  Zeitschrift  fur  analytische  Chemie  (Journal  of 
Analytical  Chemistry)  Herr  Kuyper  records  the  fact  that 
he  has  ascertained  by  distillation  the  presence  of  alcohol 
in  the  brains  and  liver  of  two  persons  who  had  fallen  into 
the  water  when  drunk  and  had  been  drowned.  In  one 
brain  he  found  about  one-fifth  of  a cubic  inch  of  alcohol, 
and  in  one  liver  a little  over  half  a cubic  inch.” 

When  we  come  to  the  consideration  of  the  effects  of 
alcohol  upon  the  nervous  system,  and  the  reflex  action  of 
the  latter  on  the  tissues  and  vascular  system,  it  will  be 
seen  that  large  doses  of  alcohol  paralyze  the  nerve  centres, 
and  thus  the  necessary  orders  for  its  expulsion,  reduction, 
and  change — which  are  given  by  the  nervous  system  in 

* A gold  medal  was  awarded  by  the  Medical  Faculty  of  the 
University  of  Edinburgh  for  this  essay. 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


95 


the  case  of  smaller  doses — are  not  forthcoming,  and  hence 
the  enemy  remains  in  possession  of  the  strongholds  until 
the  nervous  system  can^rally  sufficient  forces  to  give  the 
requisite  orders. 

§ 39.  The  consideration  next  in  order  is  that  of  the  Effects  of 
effect  of  alcohol  on  the  temperature  of  the  body.  The  alcohol  on 
temperature  of  warm-blooded  animals — man  included — ture^fth™" 
depends  chiefly  on  two  conditions,  viz.,  the  amount  of  boJy- 
combustion  within  the  body,  and  the  radiation  of  heat  from 
the  body.  These  two  conditions  mutually  assist  each 
other  in  keeping  up  an  even  temperature  of  the  body, 
about  98'6°  Fahr. 

The  functions  of  life  are  greatly  affected  by  even  small 
changes  of  temperature,  and  only  a few  degrees  above  or 
below  the  normal  mean  will  extinguish  life ; therefore 
anything  which  causes  great  fluctuations  in  bodily  tem- 
perature is  dangerous  to  health  and  life.  It  is  at  present 
generally  admitted  that  alcohol  lowers  the  temperature  of 
the  system,  but  not  until  recently  has  this  fact  been  fully 
established. 

As  early  as  1840,  the  French  physicians,  Drs.  Dumeril,  opinionsthat 
Dumarquay,  and  Lecoint  claimed  to  have  discovered  that  alcoho1 
the  taking  of  alcohol  reduced  the  temperature  of  the  body,  temperature 
and  shortly  after  the  German  physician  FTasse  announced  ^t^sbody'_ 
the  same  idea,  and  at  about  the  same  time  Dr.  Prout,  of  Dumeril, 
London,  strengthened  these  claims  by  combating  the 
oxidation  theory  on  the  ground  that  his  experiments  with  Dr.  Nasse,  ’ 
moderate  alcoholic  doses  had  shown  a reduction  in  the  rJr.’  Davies, 
exhalation  of  carbonic  acid.  Were  Liebig’s  theory  of  5r-s™i.th’ 

• • • , t o «y  p^of.  Binz 

alcoholic  combustion  into  carbonic  acid  and  water  correct,  and  Drs.  ’ 

the  amount  of  carbonic  acid  exhaled  would  be  increased, 

as  well  as  the  temperature  of  the  body  heightened.  and  Audige. 

In  1850,  Dr.  Davies,  of  Chicago,  U.S.,  published  the 
results  of  his  extensive  series  of  experiments  as  to  the 
effects  of  different  articles  of  food  and  drink  on  the  tem- 
perature of  the  body,  as  well  as  the  amount  of  carbonic 
acid  exhaled  from  the  lungs.  He  says — 

“ These  experiments  proved  conclusively  that  during 
the  active  period  of  digestion  after  taking  ordinary  food, 
whether  nitrogenous  or  carbonaceous,  the  temperature  of 
the  body  is  always  increased;  but  after  taking  alcohol,  in 
the  form  of  either  fermented  or  distilled  drinks,  the  tern- 


96 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Practical 
proofs  that 
alcohol 
reduces  the 
temperature 
of  the  body. 


perature  begins  to  fall  within  half  an  honr,  and  continues 
to  decrease  for  from  two  to  three  hours.  The  extent  and 
duration  of  the  reduction  of  temperature  was  in  direct 
proportion  to  the  amount  of  alcohol  taken.” 

Notwithstanding  these  and  many  other  convincing 
testimonies — by  Dr.  Edward  Smith,*  of  London,  for  ex- 
ample— the  question  remained  almost  at  a standstill  until 
the  publication  in  the  Practitioner  of  September,  1869, 
of  Prof.  Binz’s  article  on  the  Influence  of  Alcohol  on  the 
Temperature  of  the  Body . 

This  revived  the  issue.  Prof.  Binz  stated  that  from 
numerous  experiments  which  he  had  made  with  small 
doses  of  alcohol,  using  the  centigrade  thermometer,  he  had 
found  that  the  experiments  proved  that  small  quantities 
of  alcohol  lowered  the  temperature  considerably.  Half  a 
glass  of  light  hock,  or  a small  glass  of  cognac,  caused  a 
fall  of  from  0'4°  to  0'6°  in  a very  short  time.  In  experi- 
ments upon  dogs  with  fatal  doses,  there  was  a fall  in  the 
temperature  amounting  to  between  4°  and  5°,  in  from  one 
to  two  hours,  at  which  period  death  took  place. 

The  recent  magnificent  experiments  on  pigs  by  Drs. 
Dujardin-Beaumetz  and  Audige,  at  Paris  ( La  Temperance, 
No.  1.  Paris,  1884),  seem  to  absolutely  preclude  the  possi- 
bility of  further  controversy  on  this  point — that  the  in- 
variable result  of  the  use  of  alcohol  as  a drink  is  the  lower- 
ing of  the  temperature,  even  though  at  first  it  may  increase  it. 

During  the  campaign  in  1812  in  Russia,  so  fatal  for 
Prance,  it  was  found  that  almost  all  those  soldiers  who 
used  alcoholic  drinks  succumbed  to  the  cold  and  fatigue, 
while  only  a small  proportion  of  abstainers  fell  victims  to 
these  rigours. 

The  Esquimaux,  Greenlanders,  Laplanders,  and  other 
inhabitants  of  the  coldest  regions  of  the  globe,  have  prac- 
tically experienced  that  alcohol  unfits  them  for  enduring 
their  climates. 

As  regards  the  Laplanders ; some  years  ago  it  was 
feared  by  the  Swedish  Government  that  the  race  would 
freeze  to  death  because  of  drink.  An  intelligent  Laplander, 
while  on  a visit  to  Stockholm,  was  converted  to  total 
abstinence,  and  became  its  apostle  in  his  native  land  with 


* Author  of  Practical  Dietary,  London,  1S65. 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


97 


sucli  success  that  the  fears  of  the  extinction  of  this  in- 
teresting race  have  disappeared. 

Alcoholic  drinks  are  generally  dispensed  with  in  Arctic 
expeditions,  experience  having  shown  that  they  chill 
instead  of  warm.  The  mercantile  and  war  navies  of 
several  countries  have  abolished  the  use  of  alcoholics  by 
their  sailors ; others,  among  them  those  of  England,  do 
not  prohibit  the  use  of  liquors  in  the  fleet,  but  offer  a 
petty  inducement  as  a premium  on  abstention,  giving 
instead  of  liquors  good  coffee  and  tea.  It  is  the  invariable 
testimony  that  abstainers  are  best  capable  of  enduring 
fatigue  and  withstanding  the  fury  of  the  elements. 

Some  defendeis  of  Liebig’s  theory  have  sought  to 
reconcile  the  oxidation  of  the  alcohol,  and  the  fall  in 
bodily  temperature,  by  asserting  that  the  heat  generated 
in  the  combustion  of  the  alcohol  is  rapidly  reduced  by 
skin-radiation  resulting  from  the  effects  alcohol  exerts  in 
dilating  the  capillaries. 

Even  though  this  reasoning  were  sound,  it  can  scarcely 
be  said  to  mend  matters  ! Liebig’s  disciples  defend  the 
use  of  alcohol  only  on  the  ground  of  its  being  a respiratory 
food.  But  if  the  heat  thus  generated  is  more  than  balanced 
by  the  heat  given  out,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  what  good  can 
come  from  its  use  as  a heat-generator. 

Were  this  explanation  a true  one,  there  would  surely 
be  that  in  it  which  should  lead  the  advocates  of  the  use 
of  alcohol  to  pause. 

What  a truly  extraordinary  procedure  on  the  part  of 
the  body' — -to  surrender  warmth  so  necessary  to  health, 
and  which  under  normal  circumstances  it  would  never  let 
go ! It  would  almost  seem,  figuratively  speaking,  as  if 
alcohol,  taking  life  by  the  throat,  forced  the  life-current 
to  spring  to  the  surface  for  air  and  strength  to  combat 
its  throttler. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  it  is  chiefly  by  means  of 
skin-radiation  of  heat,  properly  proportioned  to  that 
generated  by  combustion  within,  that  the  mean  tempera- 
ture is  maintained ; and  the  rapidity  and  amount  of  such 
radiation  depends  on  the  porosity  of  the  skin,  and  the 
intimacy  of  the  connection  between  the  blood-filled 
capillaries  and  these  safety-valves.  Now,  fat  is  a non- 

H 


Plausible 
theories  for 
reconciling 
the  fall  of 
temperature 
with  the 
Liebigian 
combustion 
theory. 


98 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


conductor  of  heat,  and,  being  placed  immediately  under 
the  skin,  prevents  the  ordinary  radiation  of  heat.  (Hence 
one  reason  why  fat  people  suffer  so  much  from  heat.) 
But  if  the  Liebig  radiation  theory  were  true,  fat  drinkers 
would  scarcely  suffer  any  reduction  in  bodily  temperature 
as  compared  with  persons  in  normal  flesh. 

Under  certain  conditions  taking  a small  quantity  of 
alcohol  causes  dryness  of  the  skin,  due  probably  to  a sort 
of  cutaneous  nerve-paralysis.  By  the  lessened  exhalation 
of  vapour  from  the  skin  under  these  conditions,  loss  of 
heat  may  be  checked  and  the  temperature  raised.  This 
increase  of  heat  is  not  generated  by  the  alcohol,  which 
invariably  reduces  temperature,  but  is  due  to  the  shut- 
ting up  within  the  body  of  the  heat  generated  by  the 
oxidation  of  food,  together  with  various  noxious  elements 
which  under  natural  conditions  are  thrown  off  by  skin 
radiation. 

The  effect  of  § 40.  The  last  and  most  important  physiological  con- 
the°nervous  sideration  in  the  study  of  alcohol  is  that  of  its  effect  on 
system.  the  nervous  system. 

The  innumerable  strands  of  the  grayish  (in  essence 
unknown)  substance  which  pervade  the  tissues  everywhere, 
and  which  in  their  totality  form  the  nervous  system,  are 
more  delicate,  and  their  soundness  of  even  more  importance 
to  health  and  life,  than  is  the  soundness  of  the  tissues ; or, 
more  exactly  speaking,  the  nerves  are  of  the  first  import- 
ance, because  it  is  first  through  them  that  the  tissues  are 
operated  upon.  The  nervous  system  is  the  immediate  agency 
of  the  life-principle,  protecting,  guiding,  and  controlling 
the  various  life  manifestations. 

It  has  been  observed  that  the  nerves  do  not  all  have  the 
same  general  functions,  and  they  have  therefore  been 
classed  in  two  large  divisions : — 

Physiology  1.  The  Cerebrospinal,  including  the  brain  and  spinal 
vous^ystem  cord,  with  the  nerves  proceeding  from  them.  Their  fibres 
are  chiefly,  though  not  exclusively,  distributed  through 
the  skin  and  the  other  sensory  organs,  and  through  the 
voluntary  muscles. 

2.  The  Sympathetic  division,  which  consists  of,  firstly, 
a double  chain  of  ganglia  and  fibres  extending  in  front  of 
the  whole  spinal  column,  and  from  which  proceed  branches 
to  the  cerebro-spinal  nerves.  Secondly,  various’  ganglia, 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


99 


plexuses,  and  nerve  fibres,  extending  branches  to  tbe 
thoracic  and  abdominal  viscera.  And,  thirdly , a series  of 
nerves  controlling  the  blood-vessels,  and  known  as  the 
vaso-motor  nerves,  and  which  are  connected  with  both 
the  cerebro-spinal  and  sympathetic  systems. 

The  intertwining  and  union  of  these  systems  of  nerves, 
the  mutual  interdependence  between  them  and  the  vascular 
system,  the  indissoluble  union  of  mind  and  body,  all  com- 
bine to  constitute  the  great  difficulty  in  the  way  of  dealing 
clearly  with  this  part  of  the  subject,  since  for  the  sake 
of  clearness  we  are  constantly  compelled  to  distinguish  be- 
tween the  interlacing  psychological  and  physiological  facts. 

In  the  Influence  of  Exercise  on  Health , contributed  to 
the  Book  of  Health  (London,  1883)  by  Dr.  James  Cantile, 
he  says,  “ The  voluntary  muscles  are  under  the  direction 
and  regulation  of  the  cerebro-spinal  system.  This  consists 
of  the  brain,  resident  in  the  cranium  or  brain-case,  and  the 
prolongation  from  it  that  goes  down  the  spine  under  the 
name  of  ‘ pith,’  or  spinal  cord.  From  the  brain  and  spinal 
cord  nerves  pass  to  the  muscles,  carrying  the  impulse  to 
the  muscles ; they  are  called  motor  nerves.  A nerve  on 
reaching  a muscle  breaks  up  into  fine  filaments,  and  supplies 
every  part  of  the  muscle.  It  is  by  the  medium  of  the 
nerves  that  the  will  acts  on  the  muscles  ; the  impulse  gene- 
rated in  the  brain,  flies  down  the  spinal  cord  and  along 
the  nerves  to  a muscle. 

“ The  nerves  are  like  telegraph-wires  laid  on  between 
station  and  station ; the  originating  battery,  the  brain, 
sends  an  impulse  along  the  wires,  the  nerves,  to  work  a 
machine  at  the  other  end,  the  muscle.  But  just  as  it  is 
possible  to  send  opposite  electric  currents  along  one  wire, 
so  in  a nerve  we  have  opposite  currents.  The  one  we  have 
just  spoken  of  is  a downward  current,  from  the  brain  to 
the  muscles ; but  there  is  also  an  upward  current  carrying 
messages  from  the  skin  and  muscles  to  the  brain;  these 
nerves  are  called  sensory  nerves,  or  nerves  of  sensation, 
because  they  carry  the  impressions  of  our  sensation  to  the 
brain,  where  the  knowledge  gained  from  them  is  converted 
into  motion,  or  stored  up  as  memory,  etc.,  for  future  use. 
The  two  sets  of  impulse  are  conveyed  along  separate  fibres 
that  are  firmly  bound  together  ; but  close  to  the  spinal  cord 
the  fibres  separate,  and  we  see  a motor  and  sensory  bundle. 


Dr.  James 
Cantile  on 
the  character 
and  functions 
of  the  ner- 
vous system. 


100 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Parallel 
effects  of 
alcohol  on 
the  nervous 
and  muscular 
tissues. 


“ The  involuntary  muscles  of  the  body  are  under  the 
regulation  of  a separate  system  of  nerves,  which,  as  it 
presides  over  the  organs  of  the  more  animal  or  vegetative 
part  of  our  existence,  is  called  the  vegetative  system.  This 
consists  of  a double  chain  of  small  nervous  masses  called 
ganglia  united  together  by  nerves.  The  chains  are  arranged 
on  either  side  of  the  spine.  From  the  ganglia,  nerves  pass 
to  the  heart,  lungs,  and  the  organs  of  the  alimentary  canal, 
liver,  pancreas,  etc.- — in  fact,  to  all  the  abdominal  and 
thoracic  viscera.  On  account  of  the  ready  disturbance  of 
all  parts  of  this  system,  when  any  one  part  is  excited,  it  is 
called  the  sympathetic  system. 

“ Hence  we  find  we  have  two  sets  of  muscles  presided 
over  in  the  main  by  two  sets  of  nerves : the  voluntary 
muscles  by  the  cerebro-spinal  system,  and  the  involuntary 
by  the  sympathetic.  The  chief  difference  between  the  two 
sets  is  that  one,  the  sympathetic  system,  acting  on  the 
heart,  lungs,  and  digestive  system,  continues  in  action 
from  the  birth  to  the  death  of  the  individual,  knowing 
neither  rest  nor  stoppage,  as  we  understand  rest ; whilst 
the  other,  the  cerebro-spinal  system  presiding  over  the 
voluntary  muscles,  requires  long  intervals  of  quietude 
provided  for  by  sleep.” 

As  it  is  first  through  the  action  on  nerves  that  the 
tissues  are  reached,  it  is  plain  that  the  affection  of  the 
nerves  is  of  prior  importance  to  that  of  the  tissues,  though 
it  is  also  true  that  the  effects  conveyed  through  the  nerves 
to  the  tissues  recoil  on  the  nerves ; for,  like  the  rest  of  the 
body,  the  nervous  system  goes  through  the  processes  of 
decomposition  and  renovation,  and  therefore  is  dependent 
for  its  effectiveness  on  food ; and  as  alcohol  interferes  with 
the  digestion  and  degrades  and  deteriorates  the  whole 
process  of  nutiition,  it  follows  that  it  harms  the  nervous 
system,  and  hence  the  conclusion  that,  as  alcohol  ruins  the 
body,  so  it  ruins  the  mind.  Indeed,  we  trace  alcoholic 
effects  on  the  nerves  parallel  with  those  on  the  muscular 
tissues ; such  as  degeneration  of  the  nerve-tissue,  the 
bursting  of  blood-vessels,  and  flooding  the  brain  with 
blood,  etc. 

As  to  the  effects  of  alcohol  on  the  nervous  system,  except 
in  the  grosser  manifestations — those  of  “jollity”  and 
drunkenness — there  is  little  nnanimity  of  opinion  among 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


101 


experts,  and  as  yet  their  research  has  covered  but  a com- 
paratively small  portion  of  the  whole  field. 

It  has  long  been  a disputed  point  whether  the  peculiar 
sensations  conveyed  by  the  brain  after  the  ingestion  of 
alcohol  are  the  result  of  reflex  action,  * or  of  direct  action 
on  the  nervous  system.  It  seems  to  be  settled  now,  what-  The  first 
ever  the  subsequent  reflex  action  may  be,  that  the  first  action  ^ohot'on 
of  alcohol  on  the  brain  is  made  direct  through  the  blood.  the  bruin  is 

Dr.  Baer  (op.  cit .)  says,  “ Experiments  on  brute  and  j^Baer  on 
man  teach  that  in  a comparatively  short  time  after  its  this  point, 
injection,  subcutaneously  or  into  the  food  channels,  alcohol 
disappears  from  its  place  of  introduction,  being  taken  into 
the  blood.”  And  he  proves  that  the  primary  act  of  alcohol 
in  the  system  is  its  entering  the  blood,  by  the  established 
fact  that  drunkenness  is  produced  more  rapidly  through 
the  direct  injection  in  the  blood  than  by  its  introduction 
into  the  body  through  any  other  channel. 

It  seems,  therefore,  probable  that  some  portion  of  the  Possible 
alcohol,  the  moment  it  enters  the  mouth,  is  drawn  into  then'ddit°f 
the  blood,  which  hies  direct  to  the  brain  with  it.  when 'taken*’ 

In  this,  it  seems  to  me,  may  be  found  the  solution  of  one  rapidly,  m- 
of  the  hitherto  most  puzzling  riddles  of  the  alcohol  question,  '™^eless 
viz.,  why  a man  who  sips  his  drink  gets  more  quickly  slowly  than 
drank  than  he  who  gulps  it  down  almost  at  once.  For,  if  takren,u" 
it  were — as  most  authorities  claim  that  it  is — only  by  by  sipping, 
reflex  action  that  alcohol  operates  on  the  system,  then, 
obviously,  an  ordinary  dose,  swallowed  almost  at  once, 
would  more  quickly  intoxicate  than  would  the  same  dose 
slowly  sipped. 

* “ By  reflex  action  is  meant  the  power  which  nerve-centres 
possess  of  receiving  and  perceiving  an  impression  brought  to  them 
by  a nerve  from  some  part,  and,  as  the  result,  of  transmitting  an 
impression  through  another  nerve  to  some  other,  it  may  be  distant, 
part.  Thus  an  impulse  conducted  by  nerves  from  without  inward, 
reaches  a centre,  and  by  that  centre,  as  the  result,  an  impulse  is  sent 
through  other  nerves  which  conduct  it  from  within  outward.  So,  it 
is  said,  an  impression  or  impulse  is  reflected  by  a nerve-centre.  If, 
for  a familiar  instance,  the  skin  be  pricked,  the  part  is  suddenly 
withdrawn.  An  impression  is  conveyed  from  the  spot  injured  through 
a nerve  to  a nerve-centre,  and  hence  another  impression  is  sent  by 
the  centre  through  another  nerve  to  muscle,  which  then  contracts 
and  moves  the  part  away.” — W.  S.  Savory,  surgeon  to  St.  Bartholo- 
mew’s Hospital,  in  his  introductory  chapter  in  the  Book  of  Health 
(London,  1883). 


102 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


If  we  remember  the  processes — that  the  saliva,  on 
alcohol’s  entrance  into  the  mouth,  instantly  dilutes  it  with 
water  (and,  for  all  that  we  know,  in  other  ways  minimizes 
the  harmful  effect  before  it  enters  the  stomach)  ; that  in 
the  stomach  all  of  the  alcohol — except  the  very  small 
portion  of  it  that  goes  out  with  the  refuse — is  further 
diluted,  as  far  as  is  practicable,  by  the  gastric  juice,  in 
order  to  still  further  lessen  its  evil  power  before  it  enters 
the  blood  ; — when  we  bear  all  this  in  mind,  it  will  be  seen 
that  in  the  case  of  the  alcohol  being  slowly  sipped,  time 
would  be  given  to  all  these  defensive  functions  to  act  in 
the  completest  manner  of  which  the  body  is  capable,  and 
thus  the  resulting  intoxication  would  be  much  slighter 
than  in  the  case  of  alcohol  being  speedily  swallowed. 

But  directly  the  reverse  is  usually  the  case.  Why  ? 
In  the  first  place,  during  sipping,  the  vapour  of  the  alcohol 
is  inhaled,  and  thus  instantly  taken  by  the  lungs  into  the 
blood  and  thence  to  the  brain.  (It  is  well  known  that 
workmen  in  spirit  vaults  are  intoxicated  by  inhalation  of 
the  spirituous  vapours  alone.)  Secondly,  there  seems  no 
doubt  that  sipped  wine  is  usually  held  in  the  mouth  long 
enough  for  some  small  portion  to  be  drawn  directly  into 
the  blood  from  the  mouth  and  thence  also  to  the  brain, 
and,  hence,  he  who  slowly  sips  his  alcohol  gets  more  quickly 
intoxicated  than  he  who,  by  swallowing  it  rapidly,  subjects 
it  to  the  more  manifold  digestive  processes,  thereby  re- 
tarding the  directness  and  reducing  the  force  of  its 
assault  on  the  brain. 


The  action  of  alcohol  on  nerves  has  been  a hotly  dis- 
puted question,  and  much  confusion,  largely  due  to  the  lack 
of  clear  and  accepted  definitions,  still  exists  on  this  point. 

Nerve  affectants  are  generally  divided  into  two  groups 
— stimulants  and  narcotics.  The  difficulty  in  properly 
defining  these  groups  is  similar  to  that  I experienced  in 
defining  foods,  because  in  neither  case  does  there  exist 
authoritative  definitions. 

It  is  most  unfortunate  that  science  has  not  yet  reached 
that  height  of  accuracy  which  would  furnish  us  with 
authoritative  general  definitions,  because  just  as  much  as 
in  our  verbal  communications  it  is  necessary  to  have  an 
accepted  authoritative  meaning  for  every  word  in  order 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  KESULTS. 


103 


that  a common  understanding  may  be  arrived  at  by  all 
who  use  it;  just  as  necessary  is  strictness  in  definitions  of 
technical  terms  and  phrases.  Confusion  in  terms  springs 
from  and  produces  confusion  in  thought,  and  as  regards 
alcohol  this  confusion  will  continue  as  long  as  strict  defini- 
tions of,  for  example,  such  terms  as  food,  poison,  stimulant, 
narcotic,  moderate,  temperate,  large,  excessive,  use,  abuse, 
etc.,  are  lacking. 

As  to  stimulants,  for  example,  in  his  Principles  of  various  con- 
Medicine  (London,  1841)  Dr.  Archibald  Billing  says — flictingdefi- 
“ Tonics  give  strength,  stimulants  call  it  forth.  Stimulants  stimulants 
excite  action,  but  action  is  not  strength.  On  the  contrary,  ?nd 1 °arcJl,ics 
over-action  increases  exhaustion.  ling,  Forbes, 

Sir  John  Forbes  wrote  an  essay  of  great  merit  on  The  x^ing*1’ 
Character  of  Stimulants  (London,  1848),  in  which  he  says — Chambers, 

“ The  healthy  fabric  should  be  quite  capable  of  main-  Bruntim. 
tabling  itself  in  vigour  upon  a proper  diet,  and  with  a due 
quantum  of  sleep  and  exercise,  without  any  adventitious 
assistance.  But  if  not,  assistance  should  be  sought  from 
alteratives  rather  than  from  stimulants,  which  may  produce 
a temporary  excitement,  but  which  tend  to  destroy  the 
balance  of  the  whole.  The  very  nature  of  the  stimulant 
is  to  produce  a subsequent  depression,  and  to  lose  its  force 
by  frequent  repetition.  The  depression  is  proportional  to 
the  temporary  excitement,  and  the  loss  is  thus  at  least 
equivalent  to  the  gain.” 

But,  taking  a great  authority  in  Materia  Medica,  Dr. 
Headland,  we  find  narcotics  defined  to  mean  the  same  as 
Dr.  Forbes  means  by  stimulants.  Dr.  Headland  says — - 

“ Narcotics  are  medicines  which  pass  from  the  blood  to 
the  nerves  and  nerve-centres,  and  act  so  as  first  to  exalt 
nervous  force  and  then  to  depress  it.” 

In  his  Clinical  Lectures  (London,  1865)  Dr.  T.  King 
Chambers  says,  “ What  is  a stimulant  ? It  is  usually  held 
to  be  something  which  spurs  on  an  animal  to  a more 
vigorous  performance  of  its  duties.  It  seems  doubtful  if 
on  the  healthy  nervous  system  this  is  ever  the  effect  of 
alcohol,  even  in  the  most  moderate  doses  and  for  the 
shortest  periods  of  time.” 

Again  taking  one  of  the  latest  medical  opinions,  that 
of  Dr.  T.  Lauder  Brunton  (op.  cit.),  we  find  the  following 
definitions  : — 


104 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr.Brunton’f 
curious  de- 
fence of  hi3 
position. 


“ By  stimulants  we  mean  those  things  which  seem  to 
increase  our  vital  powers  for  the  time  being,  and  thus  to 
give  us  feelings  of  greater  strength  or  comfort.  By  nar- 
cotics we  mean  such  substances  as  lessen  our  relationship 
with  the  external  world.  When  used  to  a slight  extent, 
narcotics  simply  afford  pleasure  by  lessening  the  restraining 
or  depressing  effect  which  external  circumstances  exert 
upon  the  individual.  Small  quantities  thus  allow  freer 
play  to  fancy.  But  in  large  quantities  they  abolish  all 
the  mental  faculties,  and  render  the  person  who  has  taken 
them  completely  torpid  and  incapable  of  voluntary  thought 
or  action.  Their  abuse  may  lead  not  only  to  individual 
but  to  national  disaster.  The  most  important  stimulants 
are  alcohol  in  its  various  forms,  tea,  coffee,  and  cocoa. 
The  most  important  narcotics  are  alcohol,  tobacco,  opium, 
chloral,  and  Indian  hemp.” 

According  to  Dr.  Brunton,  therefore,  stimulants  are  so 
only  in  seeming,  their  manifestations  are  spurious.  On 
the  other  hand,  narcotics  are  so  only  in  a physical  sense, 
as  in  the  mental  sense  they  are  liberators  of  the  mind ; i.e., 
mental  stimulants,  when  moderately  indulged,  becoming 
anaesthetics  when  taken  in  excess.  According  to  him, 
alcohol  in  moderate  quantities  is  a stimulant — that  is,  a 
giver  of  spurious  strength ; and  in  large  quantities  a 
narcotic — that  is,  a duller  of  the  senses  to  impressions  from 
the  external  world. 

Apparently  for  the  purpose  of  fortifying  this  peculiar 
position,  Dr.  Brunton  (op.  cit.),  after  stating  that  “a 
very  large  quantity  of  spirits  taken  at  a draught  ” will 
produce  “ great  depression,  or  perhaps  even  stoppage  of 
the  heart’s  beats,”  assumes  that  “the  impression  made  is 
transmitted  by  the  sensory  nerves  of  the  stomach  up  to 
a nerve-centre,  known  as  the  medulla  oblongata , at  the 
upper  end  of  the  spinal  cord,  and  thence  down  by  the 
so-called  inhibitory,  or  restraining  nerves,  to  the  heart. 
When  taken  in  smaller  quantities,  however,  the  effect  is 
quite  different ; the  impression  it  makes  on  the  stomach 
is  transmitted  to  the  medulla  oblongata  by  the  sensory 
nerves,  but  instead  of  being  sent  down  the  inhibitory 
nerves,  it  is  transmitted  by  the  stimulating  nerves  of  the 
heart,  and  thus  increases  the  rapidity  and  strength  of  its 
pulsations.” 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


105 


Retaining  the  division  of  nerve-affectants  into  Stimu- 
lants and  Narcotics,  I will  define  stimulant  to  mean  such 
food,  medicine,  or  exercise  as  would  in  itself  be  energizing, 
and  will  divide  stimulants,  according  to  their  effects  on 
man,  into  two  classes — Invigorators  and  Prostrators. 
Bodily  exercise,  for  instance,  ranks  among  stimulants ; 
whether  it  acts  as  an  invigorator  or  prostrator  being 
dependent  upon  the  kind  and  degree  of  the  exercise  and 
the  condition  of  the  body. 

Narcotics,  on  the  contrary,  are  poisons,  of  a paralyzing 
nature,  and  may  be  divided  into  two  classes  ; plain  narcotics, 
or  those  whose  paralyzing  effect  is  patent,  and  pseudo- 
stimulants, or  those  narcotics  whose  benumbing  effects 
assume  the  guise  of  temporary  stimulation,  inasmuch  as 
their  action  is  expended  primarily  upon  the  inhibitory 
centres. 

Hence  among  narcotics  are  found  alcohol,  chloroform, 
opium,  hemp,  betel,  tobacco,  coca,  thorn-apple,  henbane,  etc. 

Most  of  these  narcotics  are,  in  small  doses,  pseudo- 
stimulants, and  in  large  doses,  plain  narcotics.  Alcohol 
is  pre-eminently  of  this  double  character  ; a pseudo-stimu- 
lant when  taken  in  small  doses,  and  a plain  narcotic  when 
heavily  imbibed. 

With  the  small — the  pseudo-stimulant — dose  of  alcohol, 
there  is  temporarily  all  the  appearance  of  heightened 
activity,  but  the  life-forces  expend  themselves  to  no  pur- 
pose— or  to  a purpose  which  should  not  have  existed,  the 
necessity  to  dispose  of  the  intruder. 

The  paralyzing  effect  of  alcohol  on  the  nerves  may  be 
compared  to  the  effect  produced  on  the  machinery  of  a 
clock,  by  a gradual  reduction  of  the  weight  of  its 
pendulum  ; the  machinery  runs  faster  and  faster,  but  this 
activity  is  valueless — the  real  principle,  the  time-keeping 
faculty,  is  paralyzed. 

Thus  the  animated  appearance,  the  throbbing  of  the 
arteries,  the  peculiar  sparkle  in  the  eye,  the  flush  of  the 
face,  and  the  activity  manifested  by  the  drinker  are  signs 
of  danger  A The  extra  activity  is  caused  by  the  systematic 

* The  angry  man  shows  the  same  signs — the  flaming  eye,  turgid 
vein,  etc.,  that,  in  the  case  of  alcohol-drinking,  are  claimed  as  signs 
of  benefit.  In  both  cases,  however,  the  appearances  are  the  results 
of  resentment.  The  angry  man  is  calling  on  his  reserve  force  for 


Definition  of 
stimulants. 
Divided  into 
invigorators 
and  pro- 
strators. 


Definition 
and  division 
of  narcotics. 


Meaning  of 
the  term 
pseudo- 
stimulant, 
with  ex- 
ample. 


106 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Alcohol 
clearly  a 
narcotic 
poison. 


Prof.  Christi- 
son,  Dr.  Figg, 
and  Dr. 
Anstie  on 
this  point. 


effort  to  avert  harm,  and  originates  in  the  incipient 
paralysis  of  the  nerves  caused  by  alcohol. 

In  fact,  such  signs,  when  they  result  from  the  ingestion 
of  alcohol,  are  no  more  signs  of  healthy  action  than  the 
downhill  velocity  of  a coach,  when  the  drag  is  taken  off 
its  wheel,  is  an  evidence  of  safe  progress. 

As  deceptive  as  the  outward  manifestations  are  the 
inward  sensations  of  ease,  pleasure,  and  comfort  resulting 
from  the  drinking  of  alcohol.  They  are  all  signs  of 
paralysis. 

The  starving  man,  after  the  acute  pangs  of  hunger 
have  reached  the  point  where  paralysis  from  inanition 
attacks  the  nerves,  experiences  the  most  agreeable  sensa- 
tions, and  sees  the  most  delicious  banquets  set  before  him. 
Similar  is  the  result  in  the  case  of  death  by  freezing ; 
when  the  cold  has  paralyzed  the  nerves  of  sensation,  happy 
visions  of  shelter  and  warmth  lull  the  sufferer  into  the 
fatal  sleep. 

A like  incipient  paralysis  of  the  nerves  furnishes  the 
pleasing  sensations  resulting  from  the  use  of  alcohol. 

Alcohol  is  therefore  clearly  a narcotic  poison,  though 
this  fact  has  long  been  a matter  of  dispute.  In  his  well- 
known  Dssay  on  Drunkenness  (London,  1804),  Dr.  Thomas 
Trotter  says  on  this  point,  “As  an  article  in  Materia 
Medica,  physicians  have  referred  alkohol  to  the  class  of 
narcotics ; medicines  which  induce  stupor  and  sleep,  among 
which  are  reckoned  opium,  banque,  cicuta,  belladonna, 
hyociamus  nicotiana,  lauro-cerefus,  etc.  The  operation  of 
narcotics  has  lately  given  birth  to  much  controversy  in 
medical  writing,  the  one  party  contending  for  a primary 
sedative  power  in  these  medicines,  which  by  suspending 
sense  and  motion”  produce  “ that  condition  of  the  body  called 
sleep.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  argued  that  the  first  effects 
of  narcotics  are  stimulant,  and  that  sleep  ” follows  “ as  a 
consequence  of  preceding  excitement ; they  are  therefore 
to  be  considered  as  only  indirectly  sedatives.”  One  of 
the  highest  authorities  on  poison,  Prof.  Christison,  affirms 
that  “ alcohol  constitutes  a powerful  narcotic  poison.” 

subduing  or  punishing  the  external  offender ; the  alcohol-dosed 
system  is  collecting  its  reserve  force  to  conquer  and  expel  the 
internal  foe. 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


107 


Dr.  B.  G.  Bigg  (op.  cit.,  1862)  says  the  same ; and  Dr. 
Anstie,  in  his  Stimulants  and  Narcotics  (London,  1864), 
denies  even  the  temporary  strengthening  of  the  body  from 
alcohol,  and  arrives  at  “ one  distinct  conclusion — which 
appears  to  be  very  great — namely,  that  as  in  the  case  of 
chloroform  and  ether,  the  symptoms  which  are  commonly 
described  as  an  evidence  of  excitement,  depending  upon 
the  stimulation  of  the  nervous  system  preliminary  to  the 
recurrence  of  narcosis,  are  in  reality  an  essential  of  the 
narcotic  ; i.e.,  the  paralytic  influence.” 

Dr.  James  Edmunds  (op.  cit.)  says,  “ Supposing  that 
we  were  able  by  the  use  of  alcohol  to  elicit  latent 
strength,  and,  as  it  were,  carry  a patient  round  the 
corner,  i.e.,  through  the  crisis,  when  he  might  recover 
himself  and  go  on  safely — why,  if  that  were  so,  the 
influence  of  alcohol  would  be  invaluable  in  exhausting 
diseases,  for  it  would  often  enable  us  to  save  life.  But 
alcohol  is  never  a stimulant  at  all  when  we  come  to  examine 
it.  It  never  acts  as  anything  but  a paralyzer.  What  are 
the  reasons  from  which  it  has  been  argued  that  alcohol  in 
small  doses  is  a stimulant,  instead  of  a narcotic,  as  it  is 
in  full  doses  P These — that  while  in  the  one  the  brain  is 
paralyzed,  in  the  other  the  man  will  talk  faster;  that 
while  in  the  one  the  man’s  heart  is  paralyzed  and  his 
vessels  distended,  in  the  other  the  man’s  heart  acts  more 
vigorously,  and  his  pulse  beats  more  strongly.  And  it  is 
inferred  that  because  his  heart  beats  more  strongly,  and 
the  blood-vessels  seem  to  be  more  active,  the  circulation 
must  go  on  more  actively,  and  that  in  cases  of  fainting 
and  in  cases  of  accident  the  circulation  will  often  be  kept 
up  where  otherwise  it  would  fail.  Let  me  ask  if  there  is 
not  a more  probable  explanation  of  the  force  with  which 
the  heart  acts  under  the  influence  of  a small  dose  of  alcohol 
than  that  of  supposing  that  the  influence  is  in  one  case 
that  of  a narcotic,  in  the  other  that  of  a stimulant. 

“We  have  an  analogy  in  the  act  of  breathing.  When 
we  see  a man  breathing  quietly  we  know  that  he  is  com- 
fortable, but  when  we  see  a man  with  asthma,  we  know 
that  the  air  cannot  get  into  his  chest,  nor  its  circulation 
go  on  aright  in  his  lungs.  What  do  we  see?  We  see 
him  breathing  with  most  wonderful  ‘ vigour,’  let  us  call  it. 
Is  that  any  better  for  the  man  ? Is  that  any  indication 


Dr.  James 
Edmunds  on. 
the  same. 


108 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


that  he  has  got  more  air  ? No  physiologist  would  for  a 
moment  suggest  that  it  was.  He  would  say  that  the 
terrible  breathing  we  see  where  an  asthmatic  patient  leans 
out  of  window  and  strains  all  his  breathing  muscles  to 
gasp  for  air,  was  an  indication  he  could  not  get  air  into 
him,  instead  of  an  indication  that  he  got  more  air.  Yet 
that  is  a precisely  analogous  illustration,  and  the  parallel 
will  hold  if  we  analyze  by  every  scientific  and  physiological 
test.  For  instance,  if  the  aeration  of  the  blood  be  ob- 
structed in  the  capillaries  of  the  lungs,  the  breathing 
becomes  more  frequent  and  more  vigorous  ; but  this  accele- 
rated action  is  always  called  ‘ difficult  breathing,’  and  is 
evidence  that  the  true  respiratory  changes  are  obstructed 
instead  of  being  promoted.  If  the  obstruction  continue, 
this  difficult  or  accelerated  breathing  rapidly  exhausts  the 
patient ; the  effort  cannot  be  maintained  very  long,  and 
death  necessarily  follows. 

“ If  in  a healthy  animal  we  leave  the  heart  and  lungs 
intact,  and  the  blood-vessels  unobstructed,  and  simply 
close  the  windpipe  with  a ligature,  violent  efforts  are  made 
to  inspire ; but  as  no  fresh  air  reaches  the  lung-cells,  the 
necessary  exchanges  between  the  blood  and  air  cannot  be 
made,  the  blood  ceases  to  pass  on  through  the  otherwise 
unobstructed  capillaries,  the  arteries  behind  get  gorged, 
the  heart  makes  a few  violent  struggles  to  force  on  the 
blood,  but  the  circulation  becomes  arrested  all  through  the 
body,  and  death  ensues. 

“ Here,  in  the  phenomena  of  asphyxia,  we  see  that  the 
mere  non-completion  of  the  proper  exchanges  between  the 
blood  and  the  air  absolutely  arrests  the  blood-currents, 
while  all  the  circulatory  organs  remain  perfect,  and  the 
heart  strains  every  fibre  to  urge  on  the  life-stream.  H 
instead  of  at  once  suffocating  the  animal,  we  allow  it  to 
breathe  air  containing  its  full  proportion  of  oxygen,  but 
containing  also  ten  per  cent,  of  carbonic-acid  gas,  we  get, 
first,  a retardation  of  narcosis  of  the  respiratory  actions  in 
the  lungs,  like  that  which  alcohol,  when  mixed  with 
healthy  blood,  produces  in  the  tissues  of  the  body. 
Breathing  becomes  quickened,  as  in  persons  suffering  from 
any  other  impediment  to  respiration,  and  the  heart  acts 
violently  and  rapidly ; but  as  the  carbonic-acid  gas  is 
carried  by  the  blood  all  over  the  body,  narcosis  overtakes 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


109 


the  brain  and  voluntary  muscles,  then  the  involuntary 
breathing  muscles,  and  lastly  the  heart  itself.  Under  these 
circumstances  death  is  caused  by  a gradual  asphyxia,  so 
precisely  like  that  caused  by  extreme  drunkenness  that 
nothing  but  the  actual  presence  of  alcohol  in  the  body 
would  enable  the  physician  to  tell  one  from  the  other. 

But  until  the  narcosis  has  extended  equally  to  every  part 
of  the  body,  we  get  effects  like  those  primary  effects  of 
alcohol  which  are  called  ‘ stimulating;  ’ i.e.,  we  get  violent 
and  rapid  pulsation  of  the  heart,  etc.,  etc.  Yet  carbonic- 
acid  gas  is  the  most  perfect  type  of  a narcotic  poison,  and 
it  kills  the  deity  of  the  fire-worshippers  as  remorselessly 
as  it  poisons  every  animal  tissue.”* 

In  a subsequent  paper  on  the  Physiological  Influence 
of  Alcohol  (1874)  Dr.  Edmunds  again  sums  up  the  narcotic 
effects  of  alcohol  in  these  words  : “ The  so-called  stimu- 
lating effects  of  alcohol  are  really  only  finer  shades  of  that 
same  narcotic  influence  which  produces  general  stupefac- 
tion and  universal  paralysis  when  the  agent  is  given  in 
large  doses.” 

The  narcotizing  action  of  alcohol  is  twofold,  i.e.,  direct  The  twofold 
and  reflex.  Its  direct  action  is  that  of  its  direct  assault  on  action'of12 
the  brain,  whose  highest  functions  it  attacks  with  most  alcohol  on 
severity,  because  the  higher  the  function  the  more  delicate  Ind  nerves, 
and  sensitive,  and  hence  more  susceptible  to  injury,  is  the 
brain-matter  involved.  Its  reflex  action  is  to  paralyze  the 
telegraphic  nerve-apparatus  by  which  the  dazed  and  dulled 
superior  brain  sends  its  orders  for  the  expulsion  of  the 
enemy.  Hence  the  moral  and  spiritual  functions — those  of 
reverence  for  God,  of  aspiration  ; the  principles  of  self- 
abnegation — modesty,  love,  patience,  and  fortitude,  are  the 
first  victims  of  alcohol,  while  the  coarser  powei’s  of  the 
brain  are  at  first  comparatively  little  affected,  and  hence 
the  orders  for  the  reduction  of  the  enemy  devolve  on  these 
inferior  functionaries  instead  of  being  received  from  the 
highest. 

It  is  well  known  that — in  the  case  of  contending  illustration 

on  this  point. 

# This  is  from  an  unrevised  newspaper  report  of  what  Dr. 

Edmunds  then  said — which  accounts  for  the  careless  diction.  The 
facts  and  opinions  stated  are,  however,  so  clear  and  important  that 
I have  reproduced  it  here. 


110 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


armies- — -no  matter  how  superior  in  every  respect  the  one 
foe  may  be  to  the  other,  and  no  matter  how  certain  the 
ultimate  result  of  the  engagement  may  be,  if,  at  the  very 
outset,  the  inferior  force  should  succeed  in  disabling  both 
from  action  and  command  the  chief  of  the  superior  force 
and  those  next  in  power  and  in  knowledge  of  his  plans, 
many  lives  will  be  uselessly  wasted,  because  the  lower 
officers,  ignorant  of  the  plan  of  battle  and  not  holding  that 
supremacy  over  the  men  which  the  general  possessed, 
issue  contradictory  and  inadequate  orders,  resulting  in  a 
confusion  which  costs  heavily  before  the  chief  can  resume 
his  powers  and  lead  to  victory. 

Similar,  though  infinitely  more  complex,  are  the 
paralyzing  effects  of  alcohol  on  man.  Under  these  the 
highest  functions  of  the  brain  send  muddled  or  no  orders 
to  the  sub-functions,  and  they  in  their  turn  (the  extent  of 
the  confusion,  of  course,  being  largely  determined  by  the 
amount  of  alcohol  ingested,  and  the  health,  conditions, 
temperament,  and  intrinsic  character  of  the  drinker)  send 
stupid  or  no  messages  to  their  subordinates,  and  so  on. 

But  the  lower  the  grade  of  a faculty,  the  coarser  are 
the  nerve-molecules  and  therefore  the  less  susceptible  of 
paralysis,  but  also  the  less  qualified  are  such  faculties 
— as  in  the  case  of  the  army  deprived  of  its  leaders — 
either  to  conceive  or  carry  out  the  work  of  the  highest 
functions ; and  hence  in  the  body  of  man,  as  in  the 
demoralized  army,  we  find  dire  confusion  perverting  or 
destroying  orders  passed  from  higher  to  lower  nerve- 
centres,  and  from  nerves  to  tissues — and,  as  a result,  the 
various  manifestations  of  mental  and  physical  disorders 
which  are  termed  lack  of  co-ordination  of  ideas,  lack  of 
co-ordination  of  muscles,  systemic  demoralization,  the 
wreck  of  manhood. 


Destruction  The  co-ordinating  powers  of  voluntary  action  are  the 
of  the  powers  next  to  yield  after  the  moral ; the  mechanical  powers 
tion°"0rdiaa"  yield  last.  Bor  instance,  if  we  put  something  in  a drunken 
man’s  hand,  if  he  be  not  too  far  gone,  he  will  clutch  it 
firmly,  though  without  interest,  idea,  or  intent — the  action 
of  his  hand  being  entirely  mechanical ; as  is  also  the 
clinging  of  his  legs  to  the  saddle  and  the  sides  of  the 
horse  if  he  is  put  on  horseback.  His  body  sways  about 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


Ill 


helplessly,  but  the  involuntary  muscles  of  his  legs,  called 
into  action  by  the  touch,  cling  to  what  touches  them. 
The  further  alcoholic  paralysis  extends,  the  less  does  the 
victim  know  of  shocks  or  pains.  It  is  commonly  known 
that  a drunken  man  can  fall  a considerable  distance  and 
experience,  in  appearance  at  least,  comparatively  small 
damage.  About  three  years  ago  a drunken  man  jumped 
from  London  Bridge  into  the  Thames.  He  was  picked  up 
by  a sailor,  taken  to  a hospital,  and  in  a few  days  showed 
no  effects  of  the  shock. 

It  is  also  a fact  of  common  observation  that  drunken 
persons  can  go  about  with  ugly  gashes  and  bruises  on 
their  bodies,  without  seeming  in  the  least  aware  of  these 
injuries ; and  in  the  case  of  the  hunter  St.  Martin,  it  was 
seen  what  a horrible  condition  could  be  produced  in  the 
stomach  by  alcohol,  with  comparatively  no  sensations  of 
inconvenience  to  the  patient. 

It  is  the  same  kind  of  paralysis  which — when  the  vaso- 
motor nerves  under  its  effects  partially  lose  their  con- 
tracting influence  on  the  capillaries  at  the  same  time  that 
the  heart  puts  on  extra  force  to  expel  the  foe — makes  the 
capillaries  dilate  so  that  the  blood  rushes  into  and  partly 
remains  in  these  minute  blood-vessels.  This  state  of  things 
suffuses  the  skin  with  a glow,  and  thus  heat  is  no  doubt 
wasted. 

Prof.  John  Fiske,  of  Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.S.,  in  a keen 
controversial  essay  on  Tobacco  and  Alcohol  (Boston,  1869), 
says  of  the  nerve  symptoms  produced  by  alcohol — 

“ The  first  narcotic  symptom  produced  by  alcohol  is  a 
symptom  of  incipient  paralysis  ; the  flushing  of  the  face 
is  caused  by  the  paralysis  of  the  cervical  branch  of  the 
sympathetic.  This  symptom  usually  occurs  some  time 
before  the  conspicuous  manifestation  of  the  ordinary  signs 
of  intoxication,  which  result  from  paralysis  of  the-cerebrum  ; 
we  may  search  in  vain  among  the  phenomena  of  intoxica- 
tion for  any  genuine  evidences  of  that  heightened  mental 
activity  which  is  said  to  be  followed  by  a depressive 
recoil.  There  is  no  recoil,  there  is  no  stimulation.  There 
is  nothing  but  paralytic  disorder  from  the  moment  narcosis 
begins.  Prom  the  outset  the  whole  nervous  system  is 
lowered  in  tone,  the  even  course  of  nutrition  disturbed,  and 
the  rhythmic  discharge  of  its  functions  interfered  with.” 


Prof.  John 
Fiske  on 
incipient 
alcoholic 
paralysis. 


112 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Outside 
temperature 
apparently 
qualifies  the 
dilation  of 
tho  capil- 
laries. 


Drs.  Nicol, 
Mossop,  and 
Smith  on  the 
narcotic 
effects  on  the 
eye. 


Still  it  would  seem  that,  at  least  in  cases  of  small 
doses,  the  dilation  of  capillaries  is  only  in  part  the  result 
of  vaso-motor  nerve  paralysis,  which  would  seem  to  be 
largely  influenced  by  surrounding  temperature.  In  large 
doses,  no  doubt,  alcohol  has  such  a paralyzing  effect  on 
the  vaso-motor  nerves  that  the  capillaries  are  dilated 
almost  the  same  in  cold  as  in  heat ; hence  the  danger 
of  freezing  to  death.  But  in  small  doses  this  is  not  the 
case,  because  even  though  the  drinker  does  not  in  a 
warm  room  feel  the  effects  of  drink,  he  becomes  quickly 
intoxicated  after  entering  the  cold  air,  which  seems  to 
point  the  fact  that  in  a warm  room  the  system  risks 
less  from  driving  the  alcoholized  blood  to  the  surface 
for  oxidation,  than  from  keeping  it  back  in  the  interior ; 
while  in  the  cold  atmosphere  it  is  safer  to  let  the  poison 
work  through  the  interior  of  the  system.  And  therefore 
we  see,  as  in  the  case  of  the  outward  manifestations — the 
glow  of  the  eye,  etc. — the  agreeable  sensations  caused  by 
the  blood  pouring  to  the  surface  are  deceptive ; it  is  not  an 
increase,  but  a decrease  of  heat,  the  surface  being  warmed 
at  the  expense  of  the  interior.  And  universal  practical 
experience  proves  the  fact. 

It  would  seem,  however,  to  have  been  demonstrated 
that  the  minutest  quantities  of  alcohol  have  some  paralyzing 
effect  on  the  vaso-motor  nerves. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Merriman,  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  U.S., 
in  a most  excellent  essay,  entitled  A Sober  View  of  Absti- 
nence ( Medical  Temperance  Journal,  London,  1882),  says — 

“ Drs.  Nicol  and  Mossop  of  Edinburgh,  conducting  a 
series  of  experiments  upon  each  other,  examined  the  base 
of  the  eye  by  means  of  the  ophthalmoscope  while  the  system 
was  under  the  influence  of  various  drugs.  They  found 
that  the  nerves  controlling  the  delicate  blood-vessels  of 
the  retina  were  paralyzed,  and  the  vessels  themselves  con- 
gested, by  a dose  of  two  drachms  of  rectified  spirits — less 
than  a quarter  of  an  ounce  of  absolute  alcohol — or  about 
a table-spoonful  of  brandy.  Here  was  a genuine  paralysis, 
‘ a real  physical  damage  to  the  nervous  tissue.’  The  nar- 
cosis caused  by  this  minute  dose  was,  of  course,  less 
extended,  but  just  as  real  as  that  which  occurs  when  a 
man  becomes  dead-drunk. 

“ As  the  nerves  and  blood-vessels  of  the  eye  have  a 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


113 


peculiarly  intimate  connection  with  the  brain,  this  experi- 
ment would  seem  to  show  us  through  this  little  window, 
as  it  were,  to  the  cerebrum,  how  it  is  that  even  half  a 
glass  of  light  wine  ‘ goes  to  the  head  ’ of  many  people,  that 
is,  causes  for  a moment  a slight  dizziness  and  blurring  of 
sight ; and  also  how  it  is  that,  as  Dr.  E.  Smith  has  shown, 
all  the  senses,  particularly  the  sight,  are  blunted  by  very 
small  doses  of  alcohol.  Is  it  impertinent  to  suggest  that 
even  smaller  quantities  than  this  quarter  of  an  ounce 
may  cause  incipient  narcosis,  if  only  we  had  an  instru- 
ment sharp  enough  to  detect  it  ? If  so,  the  distinction 
in  kind  between  the  effects  of  large  and  of  small  doses, 
vanishes.” 


The  quality  of  the  brain  decides  the  clearness  and  The  quality 
rapidity  with  which  a message  for  any  part  of  the  body  is  decides5™ 
conceived.  The  soundness  of  the  various  nerves  through  quality  of  its 
which  the  message  is  transmitted  decides  the  accuracy  and  bating*™1" 
speed  with  which  it  will  reach  its  destination  ; and  the  power- 
relative  health  of  the  communicating  agent,  and  of  the 
tissue  deputed  by  it  to  put  the  order  into  execution, 
decides  the  degree  of  perfection  with  which  the  transaction 
will  be  finished. 

Dr.  J.  Crichton  Browne,  in  his  paper  on  Education  and  Dr.  j.  Crich- 
the  Nervous  System  ( Book  of  Health,  London,  1883),  says: 

“ The  rate  at  which  a nervous  impulse  travels  along  a 
nerve  to  a muscle  can  be  accurately  measured,  and  this 
has  been  found  to  vary  much  in  different  animals.  In 
a frog,  such  an  impulse  travels  at  the  rate  of  twenty-eight 
metres  per  second,  and  in  a man  at  the  rate  of  thirty-three 
metres  per  second.  And  in  different  individual  men  the 
rate  of  nerve  conduction  varies  slightly.  But  it  is  in  more 
complex  nervous  operations  that  the  influence  of  quality 
of  nerve-matter  in  determining  rate  of  action  becomes 
more  manifest.  Thus,  as  regards  sensory  impressions  and 
voluntary  actions  founded  upon  them,  the  observations 
of  astronomers  show  that  of  a number  of  persons  intently 
watching  for  the  transit  of  a star  across  the  meridian, 
some  will  record  the  event  a third  or  even  half  a second 
earlier  than  others,  the  difference  between  individuals 
in  this  respect  being  known  as  the  personal  equation. 

M.  Hirsh  has  shown  that  there  are  differences  in  the 

I 


114 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  late  Dr. 
Parkes  in 
regard  to  the 
paralyzing 
effect  of  alco- 
hol on  the 
power  of 
transmitting 
thought. 


Dr.  Howie  on 
the  same. 


rapidity  with  which  impressions  are  transmitted  through 
the  nerves  of  sight,  hearing,  and  touch,  and  common 
observation  affords  abundant  illustrations  of  different  rates 
of  action  in  nerve-centres  connected  with  mental  processes. 
If  a man,  when  out  walking,  asks  his  way,  and  receives 
some  rather  complicated  directions  as  to  the  route  to  be 
taken,  he  will  frequently  repeat  these  directions  aloud 
once  or  twice  before  he  fully  comprehends  them.  The 
words  have  been  instantaneously  received  and  appropriated 
so  as  to  be  capable  of  reproduction,  but  the  interpretation 
of  them  takes  appreciable  time.  The  lower  process  has 
been  rapid,  the  higher  has  been  more  deliberately  per- 
formed. And  common  observation  also  affords  abundant 
illustration  of  different  rates  of  rapidity  of  mental  pro- 
cesses in  different  persons,  and  thus  guides  to  a rough 
estimate  of  the  quality  of  brain-matter.  One  man  is 
spoken  of  as  quick-witted ; another,  as  slow  of  thought. 
One  is  said  to  be  vivacious,  another  lethargic ; and  for 
scientific  purposes  differences  of  this  kind  are  summoned  (?) 
up  in  temperaments,  in  which  rapidity  of  mental  action 
and  quality  of  brain-substance  are  indicated  by  certain  out- 
ward characteristics.  From  the  nervous  to  the  lymphatic 
temperament,  through  the  sanguine  and  bilious  and  inter- 
mediate temperaments,  compounded  of  these,  there  is  a 
gradual  diminution  in  the  rate  of  nerve-action,  and  in  the 
fineness  of  quality  of  nerve-substance.” 

The  manner  in  which  alcohol — even  when  taken  in 
very  minute  quantity — interferes  with  the  healthfulness 
of  nerve-communication,  is  another  proof  that  it  is  always 
narcotic,  i.e.,  a nerve-paralyzer. 

Dr.  E.  A.  Parkes,  in  the  Manual  of  Practical  Hygiene 
(London,  1878),  gives  the  following  description  of  the 
nerve-paralyzing  effects  of  alcohol : — 

“ In  most  persons  alcohol  acts  at  once  as  an  anaesthetic, 
and  lessens  also  the  rapidity  of  impressions,  the  power  of 
thought,  and  the  perfection  of  the  senses.  In  other  cases 
it  seems  to  cause  increased  rapidity  of  thought,  and  excites 
imagination,  but  even  here  the  power  of  control  over  a 
train  of  thought  is  lessened.” 

In  a lecture  on  Physiological  Aspects  of  the  Alcohol 
Question,  to  the  conference  of  Liverpool  teachers  con- 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  KESULTS. 


115 


vened  by  the  National  Temperance  League,  June  9,  1883, 

Dr.  Howie  said,  “In  the  present  day  we  can  calculate 
with  precision  the  exact  time,  to  a minute  fraction  of  a 
second,  which  is  required  to  transmit  a message  from  the 
brain  to  the  hand  or  any  other  portion  of  the  body,  and  it 
has  been  distinctly  shown  that  it  takes  much  longer  to  send 
such  a message  after  the  person  experimented  upon  has 
taken  even  a small  dose  of  a narcotic.  A message  which 
could  be  sent  in  0T904  of  a second  required  0'2970  seconds 
for  its  performance  after  two  glasses  of  hock  had  been 
administered  to  the  subject  of  experiment,  thus  showing 
how  much  even  a slight  narcotic  effect  interferes  with  the 
vital  action  of  nervous  tissue.” 

How  instantaneous  is  the  disorganizing  and  crippling  J>.  J.  J. 
effect  of  this  nerve-paralysis  upon  the  mental  powers,  after  Cresting  ex- 
even the  smallest  dose  of  alcohol,  is  shown  by  Dr.  J.  J. 

Ridge,  in  his  interesting  experiments,  the  results  of  which,  doses  of 
published  in  the  Medical  Temperance  Journal  for  April,  alcoho1- 
1882,  are  almost  entirely  reproduced  here  : “ If  alcohol  is 
at  first  a stimulant,  of  course  the  functions  under  con- 
sideration should  be  more  easily  and  accurately  performed. 

There  are  three  of  the  functions  of  the  nervous  system 
which  seemed  most  suitable  for  test  purposes.  These  are 
(1)  the  sense  of  touch,  or  feeling ; (2)  the  sense  of  weight, 
or  the  muscular  sense ; and  (3)  the  sense  of  sight,  or 
vision.  I have  tested  each  of  these  senses  in  the  following 
ways : — 

“ 1.  Feeling. — An  instrument  was  constructed  in  which 
were  two  points  in  an  upright  position,  and  about  half  an 
inch  apart.  A third  upright  point  was  situated  between 
the  two,  and  was  capable  of  being  moved  in  a straight  line 
nearer  to  one  or  other  of  the  stationary  points.  These 
three  points  were  covered  in  so  as  to  be  invisible,  but  the 
forefinger  could  be  passed  through  a hole  in  order  to  feel 
them.  The  middle  point  was  moved  by  a rack  and  pinion, 
and  the  person  tested  was  required  to  move  it  until,  in  his 
opinion,  it  was  as  nearly  as  possible  equally  distant  from 
the  two  outside  points.  The  movement  of  the  middle 
point  was  recorded  on  a dial  invisible  to  the  subject  of  the 
experiment.  This  form  of  instrument  was  preferred  to  the 
ordinary  aesthesiometer,  because  in  that  instrument  (in 
using  which  the  person  has  to  state  the  earliest  moment 


116 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


that  he  can  distinguish  the  points  of  a pair  of  compasses 
as  two,  while  they  are  gradually  separated)  imagination 
might  more  easily  vitiate  the  conclusions. 


FEELING. 


A — abstainer.  [ 

Number  of  degrees 
on  the  dial 
from  exact  centre 
before  alcohol. 

Average. 

Number  of  degrees 
on  the  dial 
from  exact  centre 
after  alcohol. 

Average. 

Amount 
of  absolute 
alcohol 
given. 

A 

6 

6 

3 





5 

10 

8 

10 





9*3 

2 drachms 

A 

6 

30 

4 

30 

10 

16 

20 

24 

46 

45 

5 

28 

2 drachms 

A 

8 

40 

7 

9 

— 

16 

33 

24 

7 

30 

— 

235 

2 drachms 

A 

3 

— 

— 

— 

— 

3 

14 

— 

— 

— 

— 

14 

2 drachms 

A 

75 

— 

— 

— 

— 

75 

115 

— 

— 

— 

— 

115 

2 drachms 

115 

1 

189*8 

“ This  table  shows  that  alcohol  in  small  doses  exercises 
a narcotic  influence  on  the  nerves  of  sensation,  or  renders 
the  perception  of  minute  differences  of  size  less  keen  and 
delicate.  The  numbers,  though  apparently  large,  do  not 
represent  a large  actual  distance  between  the  points. 
They  simply  indicate  the  relative  difference,  the  average 
before  alcohol  being  twenty-three,  and  afterwards  almost 
thirty-eight.  The  only  conclusion  that  can  safely  be 
drawn  is  that  there  is  certainly  no  improvement,  no 
increased  sensitiveness  after  small  quantities  of  alcohol, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  slight  deterioration. 

“ 2.  Weight. — The  amount  of  muscular  force  required 
to  overcome  different  resistances  is  measured  by  a special 
sense  connected  with  the  muscles,  but  exercised  by  the 
nerves.  Comparison  between  two  weights  requires  the 
action  of  the  judgment.  The  more  acute  the  perceptive 
faculties  are,  so  much  the  more  readily  will  the  judgment 
decide  upon  small  differences  between  two  weights.  The 
effect  of  alcohol  on  this  muscular  sense  was  determined  by 
an  arrangement  in  which  a weight  was  attached  to  a 
certain  lever,  and  the  person  experimented  upon  was 
required  to  slide  an  equal  weight  along  another  lever, 
exactly  similar  to  the  first,  until,  in  his  opinion,  the  weights 
appeared  to  be  the  same.  It  is  obvious  that  the  position 
of  the  weights  on  each  lever  ought  to  be  exactly  the  same, 
and,  therefore,  the  more  sensitive  the  muscular  sense  is, 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


117 


the  nearer  will  the  individual  be  able  to  place  them  before 
he  ceases  to  detect  any  difference. 

“The  following  table  gives  the  particulars  of  the 
various  trials,  the  average  results  both  before  and  after 
alcohol,  the  quantity  of  alcohol  administered,  and  the 
general  average  of  the  whole.  All  the  individuals  tested 
were  adult  men,  and  the  alcohol  was  diluted  with  at  least 
three  times  its  bulk  of  water. 


WEIGHT. 


A — abstainer. 

Distance  between 
the  weights,  in 
millimetres,  before 
alcohol. 

Average- 

Distance  between 
the  weights,  in 
millimetres,  after 
alcohol. 

Average. 

Amount 
of  absolute 
alcohol 
given. 

A 

14 

8 







11-00 

1 

20 







1350 

i drachm 

Non- A 

22 

10 

16 

18 

— 

16-50 

18 

20 

20 

22 

— 

20-00 

1 drachm 

A 

3 

4 

2 

10 

— 

4-75 

8 

4 

8 

3 

— 

6-75 

1 drachm 

A 

4-5 

i 

9 

1 

7 

6-90 

13 

11 

12-5 

18 

13 

13-50 

2 drachms 

A 

0 

2 

9 

5 

— 

4-00 

5 

4 

13 

10 

— 

8-00 

2 drachms 

Non-A 

2 

4 

5 

2 

— 

3-25 

10 

4 

4 

6 

— 

6-00 

2 drachms 

A 

2 

2 

5 

0 

— 

2-25 

1 

7 

4 

3 

— 

3-75 

2 drachms 

A 

5 

7 

9 

0 

— 

5-25 

10 

8 

8 

0 

— 

6-50 

2 drachms 

A 

9 

1 

11 

0 

1 

4-40 

3 

8 

11 

15 

4 

8-20 

2 drachms 

Non-A 

2 

3 

4 

1 

— 

250 

6 

6 

8 

3 

— 

6-75 

4 drachms 

60-60 

90.95 

General  average,  6 060  before;  9'095  after. 


“From  this  table  certain  facts  are  apparent: — (1) 
That  in  every  case  the  average  sensibility  to  weight  and 
power  of  discrimination  was  decidedly  diminished  by  small 
doses  of  alcohol,  the  general  average  indicating  that  the 
sensibility  is  diminished  about  one-third,  or  66'4  per 
cent.  (2)  That  single  trials  are  not  reliable,  since  many 
circumstances  may  unite  to  produce  a fallacious  result. 
Thus,  some  of  the  trials  after  alcohol  were  actually  more 
accurate  than  some  of  those  before  it,  although  the  average 
of  each  individual  conforms  to  the  general  average  of  the 
whole.  (3)  That  non-abstainers  are  affected,  as  well  as 
abstainers.  (4)  That  small  doses  act  in  a similar  way  to 
large  doses,  and  that  the  difference  is  only  in  degree,  not 
in  kind. 

“ 3.  Vision. — This  was  tested  by  noting  the  distance  at 
which  a row  of  letters  could  be  read  with  one  eye,  without 


118 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


alcohol,  and  then  the  distance  at  which  the  same  letters, 
differently  arranged,  conld  he  read  'with  the  same  eye 
afterwards.  The  distance  varies  very  greatly  in  different 
individuals  ; hnt,  of  course,  in  the  same  individual  it  would 
remain  the  same,  provided  that  the  alcohol  had  no  effect. 
Indeed,  one  might  naturally  expect  a slight  improvement 
in  the  latter  trials,  hy  reason  of  the  eyes  becoming  accus- 
tomed to  the  formation  of  the  fancy  letters  employed.  The 
following  table  gives  the  results  obtained  : — 


VISION. 


A — abstainer. 

Distance  of  distinct 
vision,  in  feet, 
before  alcohol. 

Average. 

Distance  of  distinct 
vision,  in  feet, 
after  alcohol. 

Average. 

Amount  of 
absolute 
alcohol 
given. 

A 

7 

7-25 

7 

6 

6*81 

7 

6*75 

650 

5-75 

6-50 

i drachm 

Non-A 

9 

7 

7 

8-5 

7-87 

8-75 

6-75 

5-75 

8 

7-31 

1 drachm 

A 

10-5 

10-75 

10-5 

10-5 

10-56 

8 

9 

7-5 

9-5 

8-50 

1 drachm 

Non-A 

4 25 

5-25 

5-25 

— 

4-91 

4-50 

450 

4-25 

— 

4*41 

2 drachms 

A 

10-25 

9 

7-25 

— 

8*83 

9 

9-25 

8 

— 

8-75 

2 drachms 

A 

11-25 

11-25 

10-25 

9-5 

10-56 

10-5 

10-5 

11 

8*5 

1012 

2 drachms 

A 

15 

10-5 

13 

— 

1280 

13 

10-5 

12 

— 

11*80 

2 drachms 

A 

9-25 

10-25 

— 

— 

9-75 

8-50 

8 

— 

— 

8*25 

4 drachms 

A 

6 

6 

5-75 

— 

5-91 

5-25 

4-75 

4-75 

— 

4-91 

4 drachms 

A 

16 

15-5 

15-75 

— 

15-75 

14-75 

14-5 

15*25 

— 

14*83 

4 drachms 

93-75 

85*38 

General  average,  9-375  before ; 8-538  after. 

“ Here,  again,  it  is  clear  that  every  one  of  the  in- 
dividuals experimented  on  was  affected  injuriously  by  the 
alcohol.  On  the  average,  every  one  had  to  approach  nearer 
in  order  to  distinguish  the  same  letters.  The  general 
average  indicates  that  it  required  an  approach  of  nearly 
one  foot  to  compensate  for  the  injury  done  by  the  alcohol. 
To  put  it  another  way,  the  distance  had  to  he  shortened, 
on  the  average,  9 per  cent. 

“ In  testing  all  three  of  these  senses  it  ought  in  fairness 
to  he  borne  in  mind  that  considerable  advantage  was  given 
to  alcohol  by  the  unavoidable  necessity  that  the  test  with 
alcohol  should  follow  the  test  without  it.  For  thus,  in 
every  case,  the  alcohol  gets  all  the  credit  of  the  improve- 
ment due  to  experience  and  practice.  If  this  fallacy  could 
have  been  avoided,  it  seems  probable  that  the  difference  in 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  EESULTS. 


119 


favour  of  total  abstinence  would  have  been  even  greater 
than  it  really  was. 

“ As  two  drachms  of  alcohol  was  the  amount  given  in 
the  majority  of  cases,  it  may  be  just  worth  a line  to 
indicate  that  this  represents  one  tablespoonful  of  spirits ; 
not  quite  half  a glassful  of  port  or  sherry;  a small  wine- 
glassful  of  claret  or  champagne  ; and  not  quite  a quarter 
of  a pint  of  ale.  Now,  these  quantities  are  considerably 
short  of  the  ‘ physiological  minimum,’  which  is  supposed 
not  to  do  any  one  any  harm.  Indeed,  the  fact  is  established 
; — that  from  the  moment  when  sufficient  alcohol  has  been 
taken  to  affect  the  nervous  system  at  all,  to  the  total 
extinction  of  nervous  energy  by  a fatal  quantity,  there  is 
progressive  paralysis  of  every  form  of  nerve  function, 
capable  of  accurate  determination,  which  has  hitherto  been 
experimented  on. 

“ It  is  to  be  carefully  observed  that,  notwithstanding 
this  real  deterioration  of  various  powers,  the  individual  is 
not  conscious  of  any  alteration,  and  nothing  but  an  unmis- 
takable test  can  convince  him  that  he  is  not  so  accurate  or 
capable  as  he  was  before.  Whether  this  arises  simply 
from  the  inability  of  the  judgment  to  compare  the  intensity 
of  two  impressions  reaching  it  separately,  and  after  an 
interval  of  from  fifteen  to  thirty  minutes,  or  whether  it 
arises  from  incipient  paralysis,  or  weakening  of  the 
judgment  itself,  is  not  easy  to  determine.  Probably  both 
causes  operate  to  account  for  the  failure  to  perceive  the 
difference. 

“ One  thing  becomes  very  clear — namely,  that  the  highest 
possible  perfection  of  the  nervous  system  is  only  possible  with 
strict  total  abstinence. 

“Alcohol  has,  also,  clearly  no  right  to  be  called  a 
stimulant.  It  is  a narcotic  from  first  to  last,  as  Dr.  Wilks 
and  others  have  heretofore  asserted,  and  the  symptoms  of 
stimulation  are  only  the  result  of  the  peculiar,  balanced 
condition  of  many  functions,  between  accelerating  and 
checking  nerves  ; the  narcotizing  of  a checking  nerve 
producing  for  the  time  being  the  same  visible  effect  as  the 
stimulation  of  an  accelerating  nerve.  Alcohol,  like  other 
drugs,  has  its  special  preferences  for  certain  nerve-tracts 
over  others,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  in  some  persons  one 
nervous  function  is  more  susceptible,  and  in  others 


120 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Recent  testi- 
mony in  con- 
firmation of 
Dr.  J.  J. 
Ridge’s  ex- 
periments. 
Conditions 
qualifying 
length,  ex- 
tent, and 
character 
of  alcoholic 
paralysis. 


another.  Nevertheless,  its  tendency  may  he  broadly 
indicated  as  a paralyzer  of  nerve-function,  or,  more  shortly, 
as  a true  narcotic.” 

In  a letter  dated  March  21,  1884,  Dr.  J.  J.  Ridge  writes 
to  me  as  follows  : “ Very  recently  Dr.  Scongal,  of  New 
Mill,  has  repeated  and  confirmed  my  conclusions,  and  adds 
that  the  sense  of  hearing  is  similarly  affected  by  alcohol. 

The  health,  temperament,  alcoholic  heritage,  and  resis- 
tive power  of  the  drinker ; the  state  of  his  stomach  as  to 
food;  the  vitality  of  the  blood,  activity  of  the  excrementary 
organs,  foreign  ingredients  in  the  alcoholic  drink : — these 
and  other  conditions  and  circumstances  combine  to  deter- 
mine and  qualify  the  length,  extent,  and  character  of 
alcoholic  paralysis,  and  the  amount  of  damage  done,  just 
as  they  do  in  regard  to  the  nutritive  processes  ; and  must 
equally  be  considered  in  forming  an  estimate  of  the  effects 
of  alcohol  upon  the  nervous  system. 


Theories  re- 
garding the 
effects  of  al- 
cohol on  the 
nerves  in 
producing 
the  drink- 
craving. 


Dr.  Anstie  on 
the  same. 


Prof.  Fiske 
on  the  same. 


General  con- 
clusions as  to 


§ 41.  In  the  preceding  portion,  on  alcohol  and  digestion, 
it  has  been  shown  that  the  terrible  drink-craving  was  caused 
by  the  avidity  with  which  alcohol  absorbs  the  water  from 
the  tissues,  but  it  does  not  depend  exclusively  on  those 
chemical  properties  of  alcohol.  One  of  the  peculiarities 
inherent  in  all  forms  of  sensuous  excitation  is  that  artificial 
excitement  produces  a cry  for  more  of  the  excitant,  and 
the  more  imperatively  in  proportion  to  the  delicacy  of  the 
functions  thus  abused. 

Says  Dr.  Anstie  (op.  cit.\  “ A certain  quantity  of 
nervous  tissue  has  ceased  to  fill  the  role  of  nervous  tissue, 
and  there  is  less  impressible  matter  upon  which  the 
narcotic  might  operate.  And  hence  it  is  that  the  confirmed 
drunkard,  opium  eater,  or  coquero  requires  more  and  more 
of  his  accustomed  narcotic  to  produce  the  intoxication 
which  he  delights  in — to  saturate  his  blood  to  a high 
degree  with  the  poison,  and  thus  to  insure  an  extensive 
contact  with  the  nervous  matter.” 

Prof.  John  Fiske  (op.  cit.)  says,  “ The  perpetual 
craving  of  the  drinker  in  all  probability  is  due  to  the 
gradual  alteration  in  the  molecular  structure  of  the  nervous 
system,  caused  by  frequently  repeated  narcosis.” 

Alcohol,  therefore,  is  a narcotic  always — from  beginning 
to  end,  never  anything  else  but  a narcotic.  Indeed,  were 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


121 


it  otherwise,  it  would  not  be  used  in  the  ways  that  it  is. 
Therefore,  those  who  drink  in  the  hope  of  increasing  the 
pleasure  of  living,  miss  their  object,  as  do  those  who  drink 
in  the  hope  of  augmenting  their  mental  powers.  The 
lawyer,  taking  his  glass  before  delivering  his  brief,  dulls 
his  anxiety  as  to  the  issue  and  his  embarrassment  in 
speaking;  the  orator,  taking  his  glass  as  an  inspiration, 
will  possibly,  by  the  irritation  and  jostle  of  ideas  due  to 
narcosis,  be  able  to  reproduce  from  his  reserve  stores  of 
knowledge  some  flashy,  perhaps  eloquent  periods,  but 
rarely  coherent  or  deep  reasoning  ; in  neither  case  do  feeling 
or  thought  become  clearer  or  keener,  but  memory  and  fear 
are  deadened,  and  a mechanical  courage  to  stolidly  get 
over  what  cannot  be  adequately  faced,  is  often  temporarily 
acquired. 

§ 42.  Recent  years  have  furnished  the  strongest  proofs 
and  testimony  that  the  notion  of  alcohol  as  an  auxiliary  in 
brain-work  is  fallacious. 

Dr.  E.  G.  Eigg  (op.  tit.')  says,  “ In  a person  drinking 
to  stimulate  a natural  mental  function,  we  soon  witness 
an  alteration  of  object ; for,  experimentally  convinced  that 
in  the  insolvency  of  the  cerebral  system  as  a basis,  and 
the  defective  co-operation  of  the  blood,  that  extraordinary 
exhibition  is  not  attainable,  he  must  rest  satisfied  with 
reaching  that  which  was  once  the  normal  standard  of  his 
powers,  but  from  which  he  has  retrograded  in  the  collapse 
of  frequent  excess.” 

In  a word,  alcohol  disappoints  and  betrays  all  except 
those  who  seek  sloth  and  death  for  body  and  mind. 

In  a lecture  on  The  Effects  of  Alcoholic  Liquors  upon 
Health  and  Work,  delivered  in  Hon.  Samuel  Morley’s 
warehouse,  by  Sir  Andrew  Clark,  January  6, 1882,  he  said, 
“ Every  adult  man  who  finds  himself  after  trial — and  every 
man  should  try— to  be  a thousand  times  better  without 
alcohol,  should  not  resume  it,  because  he  will  work  better, 
he  will  enjoy  more,  he  will  have  a longer  exemption  from 
disease,  he  will  probably  live  longer,  and  certainly  he  will 
be  better  in  all  the  higher  relations  of  life.  ...  I dare  say 
if  a man  took  a glass  of  wine,  as  sometimes  people  do  to 
overcome  nervousness,  he  might  succeed,  and  indeed  I am 
bound  to  say  that  that  sort  of  help  alcohol  sometimes  can 
give  to  a man,  but  it  gives  it  curiously  enough  at  the 


the  narco- 
tizing effects 
of  alcohol. 


Dr.  E.  G. 
Figg  on  the 
effects  of 
alcohol  when 
used  as  a 
mental 
stimulant. 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


expense  of  blunting  Ms  sensibilities.  . . . That  is  my 
testimony  as  to  the  effect  of  alcoholic  liquors  upon  health 
and  upon  work,  namely,  that  for  all  purposes  of  sustained, 
enduring,  fruitful  work  it  is  my  experience  that  alcohol 
does  not  help  but  hinders  it.  ...  I am  bound  to  say 
that  for  all  honest  work  alcohol  never  helps  a human  soul. 
Never,  never ! ” 

Mr.  A.  Arthur  Reade,  in  his  work,  Study  and 
Stimulants  (London,  1883),  composed  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-two  letters  and  citations  from  various  eminent 
literary  and  other  brain  workers,  says  in  his  concluding 
comments,  “ From  a review  of  these  one  hundred  and 
thirty-two  testimonies  . . . I find”  that  “ not  one  resorts 
to  alcohol  for  stimulus  to  tMnking,  and  only  two  or  three 
defend  its  use  under  special  circumstances — ‘ useful  at  a 
pinch  ’ under  ‘ physical  or  mental  exhaustion.’  Not  one 
resorts  to  alcohol  for  inspiration.” 

I quote  from  Mr.  Reade’s  volume  the  following  concise 
and  comprehensive  testimony  (given  at  Bedford  Chapel, 
July  20th,  1882),  by  the  Rev.  Stopford  A.  Brooke:  “It 
has  been  said  that  moderate  doses  of  alcohol  stimulate 
work  into  greater  activity,  and  make  life  happier  and 
brighter.  My  experience  since  I became  a total  abstainer 
has  been  exactly  opposite.  I have  found  myself  able  to 
work  better.  I have  a greater  command  over  any  powers 
I possess.  I can  make  use  of  them  when  I please.  When 
I call  upon  them  they  answer ; and  I need  not  wait  for 
them  to  be  in  the  humour.  It  is  all  the  difference  between 
a machine  well  oiled  and  one  which  has  sometMng  among 
the  wheels  which  catches  and  retards  the  movement  at 
unexpected  times.  As  to  the  pleasure  of  life,  it  has  been 
also  increased.  I enjoy  Nature,  books,  and  men  more 
than  I did — and  my  previous  enjoyment  of  them  was  not 
small.  Those  attacks  of  depression  wMch  come  to  every 
man  at  times  who  lives  too  sedentary  a life,  rarely  visit  me 
now,  and  when  depression  does  come  from  any  trouble,  I 
can  overcome  it  far  more  quickly  than  before.  The  fact 
is,  alcohol,  even  in  the  small  quantities  I took  it,  while  it 
did  not  seem  to  injure  health,  injured  the  fineness  of  that 
physical  balance  which  means  a state  of  health  in  which 
all  the  world  is  pleasant.  That  is  my  experience  after  four 
months  of  water-drinking,  and  it  is  all  the  more  striking 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  KESULTS. 


123 


to  me,  because  for  the  last  four  or  five  years  I have  been 
a very  moderate  drinker.  I appeal  to  the  young  and  the 
old  to  try  abstinence  for  the  very  reasons  they  now  use 
alcohol — in  order  to  increase  their  power  of  work  and  their 
enjoyment  of  life.  Let  the  young  make  the  experiment  of 
working  on  water  only.  Alcohol  slowly  corrupts  and  cer- 
tainly retards  the  activity  of  the  brain  of  the  greatest 
number  of  men.  They  will  be  able  to  do  all  they  have  to 
do  more  swiftly.  This  swiftness  will  leave  them  leisure, 
the  blessing  we  want  most  in  this  overworked  world.  And 
the  leisure  not  being  led  away  by  alcohol  into  idleness, 
into  depression  which  craves  unnatural  excitement,  into 
noisy  or  slothful  company,  will  be  more  nobly  used,  and 
with  greater  joy  in  the  usage.  And  the  older  men,  who 
find  it  so  difficult  to  find  leisure,  and  who  when  they  find 
it  cannot  enjoy  it  because  they  have  a number  of  slight 
ailments  which  do  not  allow  them  perfect  health,  or  which 
keep  them  in  over-excitement  or  over-depression,  let  them 
try — though  it  will  need  a struggle — whether  the  total 
abandonment  of  alcohol  will  not  lessen  all  their  ailments, 
and  by  restoring  a better  temper  to  the  body— for  the 
body  with  alcohol  in  it  is  like  a house  with  an  irritable 
man  in  it — enable  them  not  only  to  work  better,  but  to 
enjoy  their  leisure.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the 
work  of  the  world  would  be  one-third  better  done,  and 
more  swiftly  done,  and  the  enjoyment  of  life  increased  by 
one-half,  if  no  one  took  a drop  of  alcohol.” 

§ 43.  The  working  classes  do  mostly  believe  that  alcohol 
increases  their  capacity  for  labour.  Of  course  they  are 
deceived  by  the  general  sensations  and  appearances,  and 
practical  tests  have  proved  the  fallacy  of  their  belief. 

Dr.  Beddoes  (in  Hygeia,  1802)  shows  by  comparison 
that  drinkers,  all  other  circumstances  being  equal,  could 
do  less  work  than  non-drinkers. 

“ Alcohol,”  says  Dr.  Baer,  quoting  from  Dr.  Donders, 
“ is  no  savings-bank  for  muscular  strength,  as,  in  time, 
it  utterly  destroys  it.” 

“ Brandy,  in  its  action  on  the  nerves,”  says  Baron 
Liebig,  “ is  like  a bill  of  exchange  drawn  on  the  health  of  the 
labourer,  which  for  lack  of  cash  to  pay  it,  must  be  constantly 
renewed.  The  workman  consumes  his  principal  instead  of 
interest,  hence  the  inevitable  bankruptcy  of  the  body.” 


Opinions  that 
alcohol  re- 
duces the 
capacity  for 
work — by  Dr. 
Beddoes, 
Donders, 
Liebig,  Dr. 
Parkes,  and 
Count  Wol- 
lowicz. 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


But  the  crucial  test  for  the  working  classes  is  found 
in  the  results  of  the  experiments  of  Drs.  Parkes  and 
Wollowicz.* 

From  long-protracted  comparative  experiments,  alter- 
nately with  water  and  with  alcohol,  on  a strong  and  healthy 
man,  they  found  by  counting  the  heart’s  beats  on  days  of 
water-drinking  and  days  of  spirit  ingestion,  that  alcohol 
greatly  increased  the  heart’s  action.  In  summarizing  these 
results  they  say — 

“ Admitting  that  each  beat  of  the  heart  was  as  strong 
during  the  alcoholic  period  as  in  the  water  period  (and  it 
was  really  more  powerful),  the  heart  on  the  last  two  days 
of  alcohol  was  doing  one-fifth  more  work. 

“ Adopting  the  lowest  estimate  which  has  been  given 
of  the  daily  work  of  the  heart,  viz.,  as  equal  to  122  tons 
lifted  one  foot,  the  heart  during  the  alcoholic  period  did 
daily  work  in  excess  equal  to  lifting  15'8  tons  one  foot, 
and  in  the  last  two  days  did  extra  work  to  the  amount  of 
24  tons  lifted  as  far. 

“ The  period  of  rest  for  the  heart  was  shortened, 
though,  perhaps,  not  to  such  an  extent  as  would  be  inferred 
from  the  number  of  beats,  for  each  contraction  was  sooner 
over. 

“ The  heart  on  the  fifth  and  sixth  days  after  alcohol 
was  left  off,  and  apparently  at  the  time  when  the  last 
traces  of  alcohol  were  eliminated,  showed  in  the  sphygmo- 
graphic  tracings  signs  of  unusual  feebleness,  and,  perhaps 
in  consequence  of  this,  when  the  brandy  quickened  the 
heart,  again  the  tracings  showed  a more  rapid  contraction 
of  the  ventricles,  but  less  power  than  in  the  alcoholic  period. 
The  brandy  acted,  in  fact,  on  the  heart,  whose  nutrition 
had  not  been  perfectly  restored. 

“ It  will  seem  at  first  sight  almost  incredible  that  such 
an  excess  of  work  could  be  put  upon  the  heart,  but  it  is 
perfectly  credible  when  all  the  facts  are  known. 

“ The  heart  of  an  adult  man  makes,  as  we  see  above, 
73'57  strokes  per  minute.  This  number  multiplied  by 
sixty  for  the  hour,  and  again  by  twenty-four  for  the  entire 
day,  would  give  nearly  106,000  as  the  number  of  strokes 

# See  Bibliography — Experiments  on  the  Effect  of  Alcohol  on  the 
Human  Body. — Experiments  on  the  Action  of  Bed  Bordeaux  TFine 
( Claret ) on  the  Human  Body.  London,  1870. 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


125 


per  day.  There  is,  however,  a redaction  of  stroke,  pro- 
duced by  assuming  the  recumbent  position  and  by  sleep, 
so  that  for  simplicity’s  sake  we  may  take  off  the  6000 
strokes,  and,  speaking  generally,  may  put  the  average  at 
100,000  in  the  entire  day.  With  each  of  these  strokes  the 
two  ventricles  of  the  heart  as  tbey  contract  lift  up  into 
their  respective  vessels  three  ounces  of  blood  each ; that 
is  to  say,  six  ounces  with  the  combined  stroke,  or  600,000 
in  the  twenty-four  hours.  The  equivalent  of  work  rendered 
by  this  simple  calculation  would  be  116  foot-tons ; and  if 
we  estimate  the  increase  of  work  induced  by  alcohol,  we 
shall  find  that  four  ounces  of  spirit  increase  it  one-eighth 
part,  and  eight  ounces  one-fourth  part.” 

Identical  results  were  reached  by  these  physicians  in 
their  experiments  with  claret.  There  was  the  “ marked 
effect  on  the  heart  . . . the  twenty  ounces  (of  claret), 
containing  almost  two  fluid  ounces  of  alcohol,  were  mani- 
festly too  much  for  the  subject  ...  he  felt  hot  and 
uncomfortable,  was  flushed,  the  face  was  somewhat  con- 
gested, and  he  was  a little  drowsy.  . . . Moreover,  alcohol 
then  began  to  appear  in  the  urine.  . . . With  regard  to 
this  healthy  man  taking  any  alcohol,  we  have  no  hesitation 
in  saying  he  would  be  better  without  it.” 

§ 44.  To  sum  up,  we  see  that  alcohol  is  a substance 
entirely  alien  to  the  body,  and  incapable  of  being  trans- 
formed into  anything  useful  to  it ; that  it  hinders  the 
digestion,  wastes  the  digestive  fluids,  tends  to  dissolve 
and  damage  the  blood,  and  thus  vitiates  and  retards 
all  the  life-processes — its  action  on  the  stomach  and 
blood  producing  structural  degeneration  throughout  the 
system. 

As  to  its  effect  on  the  nervous  system,  we  see  that  it 
works  through  the  blood  directly  on  the  brain  and  neiwes  ; 
that  it  narcotizes,  and  that  in  this  narcotizing  it  espe- 
cially deadens  the  feelings  of  care,  responsibility,  and 
discretion,  and  upon  the  bodily  powers  its  effects  are 
shown  in  the  failure  of  the  power  to  co-ordinate  compli- 
cated series  of  muscles,  and  in  blunting  the  acuteness  of 
the  senses. 

Its  affinity  for  water  causes  thirst  for  water,  which  the 
drinker  mistakes  for  liquor-thirst,  his  mistake  being 


General  sum- 
mary of  the 
physiological 
results  of 
alcohol. 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


strengthened  by  the  spasmodic  demand  of  the  nervous 
ganglia  for  more  irritation — hence  the  body’s  irresistible 
craving  for  drink.  These  being  the  effects  of  alcohol  on 
the  whole  organism,  it  follows  that  no  one  is  or  can  be 
strengthened  by  its  use,  and  that,  whether  used  in  modera- 
tion or  excess,  it  is,  speaking  from  the  standpoint  of 
physiology  alone,  an  unmitigated  curse  to  man,  and  as  the 
poisoner  of  water — man’s  chief  source  of  life — it  is  the 
great  founder  of  death. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


PATHOLOGICAL  RESULTS,  OR  DISEASES  CAUSED  BY  ALCOHOL. 

§ 45.  In  the  previous  part  I have  dealt  with  the  chemical 
action  and  reaction  between  the  body  and  alcohol. 

In  this,  the  pathological — or  disease  portion — I shall 
deal  briefly  with  the  disagreeable  experiences  which  Wature 
forces  upon  man  in  her  protest  against  his  use  of  alcohol. 

The  difficulties  hitherto  encountered  are  here  multiplied 
and  intensified.  All  the  complexities  and  intricacies,  and 
the  apparent  contradictions  which  bewilder  and  confuse 
the  physiological  inquirer,  confront  the  physician  with 
large  reinforcements.  Even  if  alcoholic  drinks  were  never 
adulterated,  the  exact  diagnosing  of  alcoholic  diseases 
would  still  be  a matter  of  supreme  difficulty.  Where,  for 
example,  can  a non-alcoholic  standard  be  found,  and 
without  such  an  authoritative  criterion  how  can  accuracy 
be  hoped  for  ? But  not  only  is  there  no  criterion  to  judge 
from,  but  unadulterated  alcohol  is  a scarcely  known 
article. 

But  let  us  remember  that  without  alcohol  there 
would  be  no  adulterations,  while  without  the  adulterations 
there  would  still  be  alcohol. 

Before  considering  the  subject  of  alcoholic  diseases,  let  Definition  of 
us  agree  on  definitions  of  the  terms  disease  and  health.  diseaseand 

Disease  is  a self-suggesting  word — dis-ease,  i.e.,  dis-  health, 
turbance,  dis-order.  Health  we  may  define  as  ease,  peace, 
order.  Health,  therefore,  is  that  state  of  individual  being 
in  which  the  body  aud  mind  are  unanimous  about  the  joy 
of  living. 

This  broad  definition  of  health  may  almost  provoke 
scorn  ; not  because  it  is  not  true,  but  because  it  is  absurdly 
inapplicable  to  life  as  we  find  it ; because  being  true,  then 


128 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr.  Hubs,  the 
originator  of 
the  term 
alcoholism , 
and  its 
division 
into  acute 
and  chronic. 


health  is  an  unknown  blessing,  and  there  is  nothing  but 
disease  in  the  world  ; a terrible  verdict  to  pronounce  on 
man’s  misuse  of  himself  and  his  fellow-beings. 

Practically,  then,  health  is  that  state  of  being  in  which 
no  part  of  body  or  mind  offers  any  palpable,  or  more  than 
evanescent  signs  of  serious  individual  disturbance  ; disease 
is  the  palpable  manifestation  of  disturbance  of  the  regular 
processes  of  life. 

Alcoholismus,  or  alcoholism,  is  the  name  for  all  diseases 
in  any  way  found  to  be  due  to  the  use  of  alcohol.  The  term 
was  first  used  by  Dr.  Magnus  Huss,  of  Stockholm,  in  his 
Alcoholismus  (1849—1851).  He  divides  alcoholism  into 
two  groups : Acute  alcoholism  and  Chronic  alcoholism* 
Acute  alcoholism  (drunkenness  and  its  immediate  con- 
sequences) is  principally  of  a mental  character,  and  the 
precursor  and  preparer  of  chronic  alcoholism  (the  graver 
chronic  mental  disorder)  ; but  as  chronic  alcoholism  is  both 
of  a physical  and  mental  character,  I will — in  order  to 
connect  the  physical  phenomena  as  a whole  with  the 
mental  phenomena  as  a whole — first  deal  with  the  chronic 
physical  phenomena,  then  with  acute  alcoholism,  and  then 
with  the  chiefly  mental  phenomena  and  diseases. 


A.  Physical  Phenomena  and  Diseases. 

§ 46.  “ The  term  chronic  alcoholism says  Dr.  Huss, 
“ applies  to  the  collective  symptoms  of  a disordered  condition 
of  the  mental,  motor,  and  sensory  functions  of  the  nervous 
system,  these  symptoms  assuming  a chronic  form,  and 
without  their  being  immediately  connected  with  any  of 
these  (organic)  modifications  of  the  central  or  peripheric 
portions  of  the  nervous  system,  which  may  be  detected 
during  life  or  discovered  after  death  by  ocular  inspection  ; 
such  symptoms,  moreover,  affecting  individuals  who  have 

* Dr.  James  Edmunds  says  tliat  in  chronic  alcoholism,  “ the  body 
is  one  whose  tissues  are  damaged,  to  begin  with,  by  the  long-continued 
use  of  alcohol.  The  case  displays  all  the  phenomena  of  the  sot.  With 
every  temporary  depression  in  health,  a comparatively  mild  chill  or 
a little  excess  in  the  habitual  use  of  alcohol  suffices  to  bring  on  an 
attack  of  delirium  tremens.  This  differs  from  acute  alcoholism  in 
that  the  subject  is  more  prone  to  prostration  and  death,  though  the 
symptoms  are  less  violent,  and  that  recovery  is  much  slower/’ 


PATHOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


129 


persisted  for  a considerable  length  of  time  in  the  habit  of 
drinking.” 

Strictly  speaking,  chronic  alcoholism  includes  all  The  scope  ot 
chronic  diseases,  physical  or  mental,  coming  -within  the  alcohoUsm- 
scope  of  either  of  the  following  categories  : — 

1.  Disorders  occasioned  by  strain  imposed  on  the  system 
by  alcohol. 

2.  Diseases  traceable  to  general  system-degeneration 
produced  by  alcohol. 

3.  Diseases  which  but  for  alcoholic  system-degeneration 
might  have  been  averted  or  resisted. 

Neither  place  nor  time  are  here  afforded  for  going  into 
the  pathogeny,  symptomatology,  diagnosis,  or  nosology  of 
alcoholic  diseases,  and  we  shall  only  quote  some  of  the 
general  utterances  of  the  great  authorities  on  these  points, 
leaving  the  reader  to  discover,  not  what  diseases  do,  but 
what  diseases  do  not  directly  or  indirectly  owe,  in  part  at 
least,  their  existence,  character,  and  prevalence  to  alcohol. 

Prof.  Christison,  of  Edinburgh,  in  a letter  to  the  Chair-  Prof.  Christi- 
man  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Health,  dated  general 
July  26th,  1870,  says  of  intoxication — diseases  due 

“ I recognize  certain  diseases  which  originate  in  the  alcohol^6  ° 
vice  of  drunkenness  alone,  which  are  delirium  tremens, 
cirrhosis  of  the  liver,  many  cases  of  Bright’s  disease  of  the 
kidneys,  and  dipsomania,  or  insane  drunkenness. 

“ Then  I recognize  many  other  diseases  in  regard  to 
which  excess  in  alcoholics  acts  as  a powerful  predisposing 
cause,  such  as  gout,  gravel,  aneurism,  paralysis,  apoplexy, 
epilepsy,  cystitis,  premature  incontinence  of  mine,  ery- 
sipelas, spreading  cellular  inflammation,  tendency  of  wounds 
and  sores  to  gangrene,  inability  of  the  constitution  to  resist 
the  attacks  of  the  diseases  at  large.  I have  had  a fearful 
amount  of  experience  of  continued  fever  in  our  infirmary 
during  many  an  epidemic,  and  in  all  my  experience  I have 
only  once  known  an  intemperate  man  of  forty  and  upwards 
to  recover.” 

Prof.  Christison  also  claims  that  three-fourths,  or  even 
four-fifths,  of  Bright’s  disease  in  Scotland  is  produced  by 
alcohol. 

In  a Treatise  on  the  Continued  Fevers  of  G-reat  Britain  Dr, 
(London,  1874),  Dr.  C.  Murchison  says: — sononcon- 

“ A single  act  of  intoxication  may  also  predispose  to  fevers. 

K 


130 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr.  Murchi- 
son on  func- 
tional 
diseases  of 
the  liver. 


Mr.  Startin 
on  skin 
diseases. 


typhus.  I have  known  several  instances  of  persons  exposed 
for  months  to  the  poison  in  its  most  concentrated  form, 
who  were  not  attacked  until  immediately  after  a debauch. 
There  is  no  greater  error  than  to  imagine  that  a liberal 
allowance  of  alcoholic  stimulants  fortifies  the  system 
against  contagious  diseases.” 

In  the  Croonian  Lectures  of  1874,  to  the  members  of 
the  Royal  College  of  Physicians,  on  Functional  Diseases 
of  the  Liver , Dr.  Murchison  said — 

“ It  is  the  prevalence  of  beer  and  spirit  drinking,  and 
consequent  liver-clogging,  which  accounts  for  the  wide- 
spread use  and  countless  forms  of  patent  pills,  such  as 
Cockle’s,  Morison’s,  Holloway’s,  and  others.  These  are 
taken  by  millions  every  week,  and  people  find  that  if  they 
do  not  take  them  they  become  bilious  and  unwell.  They 
are  all  of  a purgative  nature,  and  by  occasionally  hurrying 
unspent  material  out  of  the  system  they  give  temporary 
relief  to  the  overwrought  liver.  The  wear  and  tear  of  this 
process  must,  however,  tend  to  shorten  life. 

“ The  sallow  and  unhealthy  appearance  of  the  face  of 
the  drinker  indicates  the  diseased  liver,  the  most  common 
disease  being  the  so-called  cirrhosis  or  shrinkage  of  the 
liver,  commonly  termed  in  England  the  ‘ gin-drinker’s 
liver.’  ” 

In  July,  1882,  Mr.  James  Startin  stated  that — 

“ Sixty  per  cent,  of  the  cases  of  skin  disease  which  he 
has  to  deal  with  are  due,  in  one  way  or  another,  to  alcohol. 
His  position,  both  as  a consultant  and  surgeon  to  St.  John’s 
Hospital  for  Diseases  of  the  Skin,  render  his  experience 
large  and  his  testimony  important.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  universal  abandonment  of  alcoholic  beverages 
would  conduce  as  much  to  the  health  and  clearness  of  the 
skin  among  the  general  population  as  among  those  female 
prison  inmates  who  are  declared,  on  unimpeachable 
authority,  so  frequently  to  recover  their  good  looks  by  the 
unalcoholic  regimen  of  their  enforced  retreat.” 

In  a lecture  at  Exeter  Hall  (April  18,  1882)  Dr. 
Norman  Kerr,  in  speaking  of  the  diseases  due  to  alcohol, 
stated  that  probably  60  per  cent,  of  the  cases  of  erysipelas 
were  occasioned  by  it.  ■ 

Sir  William  Temple,  in  his  essay  upon  the  Cure  of 
Gout  by  Moxa  (Nimeguen,  June,  1677),  says — 


PATHOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


131 


“ Among  all  the  diseases  to  which  the  intemperance  of 
this  age  disposes,  I have  observed  none  to  increase  so  much 
as  the  gont,  nor  any,  I think,  of  worse  consequence  to 
mankind.  . . . And  if  intemperance  be  allowed  to  be  the 
common  mother  of  the  gout,  or  dropsy,  and  of  scurvy,  etc., 
I think  temperance  deserves  the  first  rank  among  public 
virtues,  as  well  as  those  of  private  men ; and  I doubt 
whether  any  can  pretend  to  the  constant  steady  exer- 
cise of  prudence,  justice,  or  fortitude,  without  it.  . . . 
I have  known  so  great  cures,  and  so  many,  done  by 
obstinate  resolutions  of  drinking  no  wine  at  all,  that  I 
put  more  weight  upon  the  part  of  temperance  than  any 
other.” 

Dr.  Erasmus  Darwin,  in  his  famous  work,  Zoonomia 
(London,  1794),  vol.  i.  sect.  xxi.  p.  251  (“  On  Drunken- 
ness”), says  concerning  gout — 

“ I am  well  aware  that  it  is  a common  opinion  that  the 
gout  is  as  frequently  owing  to  gluttony  in  eating  as  to 
intemperance  in  drinking  fermented  or  spirituous  liquors. 
To  this  I answer  that  I have  seen  no  person  afflicted  with 
gout  who  has  not  drank  freely  of  fermented  liquor,  as  wine 
and  water,  or  small  beer ; though  as  the  disposition  to  all 
diseases  which  have  originated  from  intoxication  is  in  some 
degree  hereditary,  a less  quantity  of  spirituous  potation 
will  induce  the  gout  in  those  who  inherit  the  disposition 
from  their  parents.” 

In  his  work  on  The  Nature  and  Treatment  of  Gout 
(London,  1859),  Dr.  Alfred  Baring  Gfarrod  says — 

“ There  is  no  truth  in  medicine  better  established  than 
that  the  use  of  fermented  or  alcoholic  liquors  is  the  most 
powerful  of  all  the  predisposing  causes  of  gout ; nay,  so 
potent  that  it  may  be  a question  whether  the  malady 
would  ever  have  been  known  to  mankind  had  such 
beverages  not  been  indulged  in.  Stout  and  porter  rank 
next  to  wine  in  predisposing  to  gout ; cider  and  similar 
beverages  will  also  act  to  some  extent  as  predisposing  causes 
of  gout.” 

Dr.  Charles  Drysdale,  in  his  address  before  the  Public 
Health  Section  of  the  British  Medical  Association,  at 
Sheffield  (Aug.  3,  1876),  said — 

“ The  drinking  of  beer  is  the  greatest  cause  of  gout 
among  the  population  of  London.” 


Dr.  Darwin 
on  gout. 


Dr.  Garrod 
on  gout. 


Dr.  Drysdale 
on  beer  and 
gout. 


132 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  testi- 
mony of  W. 
Bromley 
Davenport, 
M.P.,  that 
Lord  Gran- 
ville re- 
covered from 
gout  through 
abstinence. 


Dr.  Richard- 
son’s sum- 
mary of  the 
functional 
disorders 
and  organic 
diseases  from 
alcohol. 


At  the  Licensed  Victuallers’  Dinner,  given  at  Birming- 
ham (August  9,  1877),  Mr.  W.  Bromley  Davenport,  M.P., 
gave  this  amusingly  naive  testimony  regarding  gout  and 
wine  : — 

“ My  brother-in-law,  Lord  Granville,  about  two  years 
ago,  told  me  he  intended  to  give  up  wine  altogether.  I 
was  very  sorry  to  hear  it,  because  I thought  it  might  injure 
him.  He  tells  me  he  has  given  up  wine,  and  whereas  he 
used  to  suffer  from  the  gout,  he  is  now  not  troubled  with 
it.  If  I were  to  look  into  my  secret  soul — if  the  priest  in 
absolution  got  hold  of  me,  and  got  into  my  soul,  which  I 
hope  he  will  not — I should  have  to  admit  I was  a little 
annoyed  at  finding  him  so  well.  I was,  because  his  system 
and  mine  were  so  totally  opposed,  and  I was  a little  bit 
disappointed.” 

Dr.  B.  W.  Richardson,  in  his  Diseases  of  Modern  Life 
(4th  edition,  London,  1877.  On  Functional  Disorders 
and  Organic  Diseases  from  Alcohol),  gives  the  following 
clear  and  comprehensive  summary  of  diseases  springing 
from  alcohol : — 

“ The  simplest  form  of  the  disease  is  seen  in  those  who 
have  become  habituated  to  the  use  of  alcohol  up  to  the  first 
degree.  In  this  degree  the  alcohol,  when  in  action,  is  pro- 
ducing arterial  relaxation,  and  the  extreme  or  peripheral 
circulation  is  surcharged  with  blood.  Persons  who  are 
thus  far  habituated  to  it  find  in  the  agent  what  seems  to 
them  to  be  a daily  necessity.  They  rise  in  the  morning 
imperfectly  refreshed  by  sleep,  and  they  discover  in  the 
first  meal  of  the  day,  in  the  ordinary  breakfast  of  domestic 
life,  a very  imperfect  sustainment.  As  the  day  advances 
some  want  is  felt  generally ; the  stomach  seems  to  require 
a fillip,  the  nervous  system  is  languid,  the  mind  is  dull,  and 
the  muscles  are  easily  wearied.  There  is,  in  addition,  a 
sense  of  central  feebleness,  as  though  the  heart  were  wait- 
ing for  an  expected  and  necessary  support.  Under  the 
apparent  necessity  created  by  these  desires,  some  alcohol  is 
imbibed  and  relief  is  for  the  time  obtained.  The  relief  is 
speedily  determinate,  and  the  power  for  work  or  for  play 
is  restored.  But  the  effect  is  of  short  duration ; after  a 
brief  period  the  alcohol  is  demanded  again,  either  with  or 
without  food,  and  at  each  meal  it  is  felt  to  be  as  essential 


PATHOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


133 


as  the  food  itself — nay,  it  is  often  felt  to  be  so  essential  that 
food  is  as  nothing  without  it. 

“ The  fh’st  symptoms  indicating  the  evil  influence  of 
alcohol  are,  as  I have  said,  functional,  and  I may  add, 
fluctuating.  They  are  at  first  commonly  called  dyspeptic 
symptoms.  The  stomach  and  alimentary  canal  are  sur- 
chai’ged  with  gases  ; and  flatulency  is  a constant  source  of 
annoyance.  With  this  there  is  frequent  depression  of 
mind  and  ready  irritation.  The  emotional  centres  are  easily 
excited,  and  to  laugh  or  to  cry  seems  often  to  be  but 
the  work  of  a thought  in  act,  and  of  a moment  in  time. 
The  action  of  the  bowels  is  irregular;  at  one  time  there  is 
a constipated,  at  another  time  a relaxed  condition.  The 
function  of  the  kidney  is  equally  disturbed. 

“ Noises  and  ringing  and  buzzing  sounds  are  heard  in 
the  head,  now  suddenly  and  for  brief  periods,  again  for 
longer  or  even  very  long  periods  of  time.  The  cause  of 
these  sounds  is  simple  enough.  The  arterial  tension  being 
reduced,  the  blood  flowing  through  the  internal  carotid 
arteries  into  the  skull,  through  the  bony  channel  called  the 
carotid  canal,  presses  on  the  walls  of  the  relaxed  vessel, 
dilated  under  the  pressure  of  the  blood,  and  conveys  vibra- 
tion, from  the  pressure  of  the  blood,  to  the  walls  of  the  bony 
canal.  The  vibration  is  communicated  direct  to  the  im- 
mediately contiguous  auditory  apparatus,  and  thus  every 
movement  of  the  blood  becomes  a murmur  of  sound,  varied 
in  intensity  and  quality  by  the  varying  tension  of  the 
artery. 

“ The  external  surface  of  the  body  in  this  state  is 
easily  affected  and  disordered.  The  vessels  of  the  skin 
are  markedly  relaxed  when  the  influence  of  alcohol  is 
re-excited  by  a renewed  dose  ; the  face  and  ears  redden, 
and  the  whole  of  the  cutaneous  surface  seems  in  a glow. 
At  first  the  vessels  regain  their  calibre  when  the  alcohol 
ceases  to  exert  an  influence  on  them  ; but  by-and-by,  under 
the  frequent  repetition  of  the  relaxation,  the  vessels  begin 
to  retain  the  unnatural  change  to  which  they  have  been 
subjected,  and  in  the  extreme  parts,  such  as  the  cheek  and 
the  nose,  they  assume  a distinctive  appearance  of  confirmed 
vascular  relaxation.  For  the  same  reason — deficient  tonicity 
of  the  vessels — the  cutaneous  secretion  is  irregular ; a 
small  amount  of  exertion  creates  a too  free  perspiration ; a 


Alcoholic 

dyspepsia. 


Sensory  dis- 
turbance 
from  alcohol. 


Vascular 
changes  in 
the  skin. 


134 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


little  excess  of  covering  to  the  body  has  the  same  effect. 
The  perspiration  is  profuse,  and,  condensing  quickly  on 
the  skin,  as  water,  instead  of  going  off  in  vapour  with  a 
warm  glow,  is  clammy,  heavy,  and  most  oppressive.  At 
times  the  secretion  from  the  skin  is  extremely  acid. 

“ During  this  state  eruptions  on  the  skin  are  not  un- 
frequent. An  eczematous  eruption  occurring  in  some  ex- 
treme parts,  as  the  toes,  and  consisting  at  first  of  a slight 
vesicular  rash,  with  a thin  fluid  discharge,  and  afterwards 
with  a scale  which  is  cast  off  with  much  irritation,  is  one 
of  the  most  common  series  of  signs  of  the  reduced  nervous 
control  over  vascular  supply  induced  by  alcohol. 

Symptoms  of  “ The  temperate  alcoholic,  suffering  a deterioration  of 

failure'0  organic  structure  which  he  himself  does  not,  perchance, 
recognize,  but  which  is  always  present  in  him,  in  some 
form  or  degree,  feels,  as  his  years  advance,  other  phenomena 
of  disease.  He  detects  too  acutely  changes  of  season. 
The  summer  is  more  than  genial  to  him,  it  is  life-giving ; 
the  autumn  is  dreary,  the  winter  depressing,  and  the  first 
months  of  spring,  with  their  keen  easterly  winds,  are 
almost  destructive.  Neuralgic,  rheumatic,  or  gouty  pains, 
varied  according  to  the  diathesis  of  the  man,  tease  or 
torment ; and  at  last,  long  before  the  natural  period  for 
cessation  from  active  work  has  arrived,  the  man  is  an  old 
man.  His  relaxed  vessels  are  ready  to  give  way  under 
light  pressure,  and  his  life  is  ready  to  depart  under 
natural  shocks  which  to  a man  of  healthy  structure  would 
be  but  as  passing  vibrations  resisted  by  the  force  within 
the  body  and  neutralized. 

0rganic  “ Disease  of  the  heart  is  a common  organic  malady 

diseases  from  incident  to  the  alcoholic  constitution  of  body.  The  form  of 
Disease  of  the  disease  is  usually  either  a degeneration  of  the  muscular 
heart.  fibre — an  interposition  within  the  fibre  of  fatty  substance, 

by  which  the  true  muscular  elements  are  partially  replaced  ; 
or  a degeneration  produced  from  excess  of  fluid  between 
the  muscular  elements. 

“ In  these  states  the  power  of  the  heart  to  propel  the 
blood  is  enfeebled,  and,  although  for  a much  longer  time 
than  might  be  expected  the  heart  responds  to  the  agent 
that  is  destroying  it,  and  continues  to  beat  more  freely 
when  the  extreme  vessels  are  paralyzed  and  the  arterial 
recoil  is  weakened,  a time  at  last  conies  when  the  very 


PATHOLOGICAL  EESULTS. 


135 


absence  of  the  recoil  is  the  forerunner  of  death.  For  it  is 
by  the  recoil  of  the  great  arteries  that  the  heart  itself  is 
fed  with  the  sustaining  blood. 

“ Disease  of  the  blood-vessels  is  another  phase  of  the 
organic  disease  from  alcohol.  This  change,  also  a deteriora- 
tion of  structure,  may  precede  the  changes  in  the  heart,  or 
may  run  with  them. 

“ In  men  whose  hearts  are  principally  strong,  the 
vascular  form  of  disease  is  often  the  first,  and  is  the  cause 
of  death  while  the  heart  remains  comparatively  sound. 
The  deterioration  is,  as  a rule,  in  the  arterial  vessels,  and 
may  occur  in  them,  either  in  their  wider  courses  or  in 
their  minute  or  peripheral  course.  In  the  larger  arteries, 
the  change  induced  in  the  coats  of  the  vessel  may  be  a 
deposit,  calcareous  or  bony-like,  a thinning,  a dilatation, 
or  an  atheromatous  or  fatty  transformation  of  tissue. 
Whichever  of  these  changes  occurs,  the  result  is  that  the 
vessel  is  weakened  at  the  part,  and  the  elastic  coat  of  the 
vessel,  upon  the  recoil  of  which  so  much  depends,  is 
rendered  helpless.  The  arch  of  the  great  aorta,  the  basilar 
artery  of  the  brain,  the  arteries  of  the  heart  itself,  are 
parts  of  the  arterial  circuit  very  subject  to  this  modifica- 
tion of  structure  from  alcohol.  Sometimes  the  diseased 
vessel  becomes  plugged  with  coagulated  blood,  and  through 
it,  then,  no  more  blood  can  flow  ; sometimes,  under  a little 
undue  pressure,  the  vessel  gives  way,  and  the  escape  of 
blood,  through  the  rupture,  leads  to  rapid  dissolution. 

“ In  the  minute  vessels — I mean  the  vessels  that  lie 
intermediate  between  the  arterial  trunks  and  the  returning 
veins — the  changes  produced  are  infinitely  refined  and 
subtle.  It  is  probable  that  all  the  structural  organic 
deteriorations  from  alcohol  commence  in  this  minute 
circulation  in  which  the  processes  of  nutrition  are  during 
health  in  active  progress. 

“ The  sufferers  from  alcoholic  phthisis  are  usually 
somewhat  advanced  in  life  ; the  average  age  has  been  forty- 
eight  years.  They  are  often  considered  healthy  persons 
until  they  are  stricken  with  the  particular  affection,  and 
the  figure  and  conformation  of  their  bodies  is  good.  They 
are  not  of  the  class  of  drinkers  who  sleep  long,  take  little 
exercise,  and  grow  dull,  pale,  and  pasty-looking,  but  are 
those  who  take  moderate  or  short  hours  of  rest,  go  on 


The  lungs : 

Alcoholic 

phthisis. 


136 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


actively  through  their  duties,  and,  primed  by  frequent 
resort  to  the  spirit  cup,  live  as  much,  work  as  much,  see 
as  much,  and  enjoy  as  much  as  they  can.  They  are  rarely 
intoxicated,  but  constantly  are  ‘ mellow.’  Beer  and  thin 
wines  are  to  them  as  water ; they  can  take  strong  wine 
ad  libitum,  and  even  under  strong  spirit  are  less  influenced 
than  other  men,  unless — to  use  the  pitiful  jest  in  which 
they  indulge — they  ‘ pile  on  the  agony.’ 

“ For  many  years  these  sufferers,  owing  to  a splendid 
conformation  of  body,  may  live  apparently  uninfluenced 
by  any  disease,  in  which  respect  they  differ  from  alcoholics 
generally,  and  in  fact  are  instanced  by  the  votaries  of 
Bacchus  as  men  who  drink  deep  and  seem  never  the  worse 
for  di’inking. 

“ This  wonderful  health  is,  however,  after  all,  apparent 
only.  Questioned  closely,  it  is  soon  discovered  that  the 
victims  have  long  been  out  of  health ; that  a slight  in- 
fluence, such  as  a cold,  has  easily  depressed  them ; that 
subjected  to  unusual  excitement  or  unusual  fatigue,  their 
balance  of  strength  against  exertion  is  weakened,  and  that 
an  extra  quantity  of  alcohol  has  often  been  wanted  to 
bring  them  up  to  their  required  activity.  Nevertheless, 
they  pass  for  healthy  men : they  look  healthy,  and  they 
retain  their  good  looks  to  the  last.  The  blotched  skin, 
the  purple-red  nose,  the  dull  protruding  eye,  the  vacant 
stare,  the  alcoholic  face  of  the  complete  sot,  is  not  traceable 
in  them;  neither  is  the  wan,  pale,  sunken  cheek  of  the 
ordinary  consumptive  observable.  The  face,  in  short,  is 
the  best  part  of  these  subjects  of  alcoholic  phthisis.  When 
they  are  fatally  stricken,  often  when  their  muscles  have 
lost  their  power,  and  the  clothes  hang  like  sacks  on  the 
emaciated  body,  their  countenance  is  still  ruddy,  and  the 
expression  firm ; so  that  friends,  too  ready  to  be  hopefully 
deceived,  believe  in  recovery  when  every  chance  of  it  has 
passed  away.  In  some  instances  death  is  so  quick  from 
this  disease,  that  the  body  generally  is  not  greatly  emaciated, 
but,  like  the  face,  conveys  the  deception  of  strength.  There 
is  no  remedy  whatever  for  alcoholic  phthisis.  It  may  be 
delayed  in  its  course,  but  it  is  never  stopped ; and  not 
unfrequently,  instead  of  being  delayed,  it  runs  on  to  a 
fatal  termination  more  rapidly  than  is  common  in  any 
other  type  of  disorder. 


PATHOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


137 


“ The  organ  of  the  body  which  most  frequently  perhaps 
undergoes  structural  changes  from  alcohol  is  the  liver. 
The  capacity  of  this  organ  for  holding  active  substances 
in  its  cellular  parts  is  one  of  its  marked  physiological 
distinctions.  In  instances  of  poisoning  by  arsenic,  anti- 
mony, strychnine,  and  other  poisonous  compounds,  we 
find,  in  conducting  our  analyses,  the  liver  to  be  as  it  were 
the  central  depot  of  the  foreign  matter.  It  is,  practically, 
the  same  in  poisoning  with  alcohol.  The  liver  of  the 
confirmed  alcoholic  is  probably  never  free  from  the  in- 
fluence of  the  poison ; it  is  too  often  saturated  writh  it. 

“ The  effect  of  the  alcohol  upon  the  liver  is  through 
the  minute  membranous  or  capsular  structure  of  the  organ, 
upon  which  it  acts  to  prevent  the  proper  dialysis  and  free 
secretion.  The  organ  at  first  becomes  large  from  the  dis- 
tension of  its  vessels,  the  surcharge  of  fluid  matter,  and 
the  thickening  of  tissue.  After  a time  there  follow  con- 
traction of  membrane  and  slow  shrinking  of  the  whole 
mass  of  the  organ  in  its  cellular  parts.  Then  the  shrunken, 
hardened,  roughened  mass  is  said  to  be  “ hob-nailed,”  a 
common  but  expressive  term.  By  the  time  this  change 
occurs,  the  body  of  him  in  whom  it  is  developed  is  usually 
dropsical  in  its  lower  parts,  owing  to  the  obstruction  offered 
to  the  returning  blood  by  the  veins,  and  death  is  certain. 

“ The  kidney,  in  like  manner  with  the  liver,  suffers 
deterioration  of  structure  from  the  continued  influence  of 
alcoholic  spirit.  Its  minute  structure  undergoes  fatty 
modifications ; its  vessels  lose  their  due  elasticity  and 
power  of  contraction  ; or  its  membranes  permit  to  pass 
through  them  that  colloidal  part  of  tbe  blood  which  is 
known  as  albumen.  This  condition  reached,  the  body 
loses  in  power  as  if  it  were  being  gradually  drained  even 
of  its  blood.  For  the  colloidal  albumen  is  the  primitively 
dissolved  fluid  out  of  which  all  the  other  tissues  are  by 
dialytical  processes  to  be  elaborated.  In  its  natural  desti- 
nation it  has  to  pass  into  and  constitute  every  colloidal 
part. 

“In  the  eyeball  certain  colloidal  changes  take  place 
from  the  influence  of  alcohol,  the  extent  of  which  have  as 
yet  been  hardly  thought  of,  certainly  not  in  any  degree 
studied,  as  in  future  they  will  be.  We  have  learned  of 
late  years  that  the  colloidal  lens,  the  great  refracting 


The  liver 
Diabetes. 


The  kidneys : 
Calculus. 


The  eyes : 
Cataract. 


138 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Sleepless- 

ness. 


Nervous 
diseases  from 
alcohol. 


Epilepsy 
from  alcohol. 


Paralysis 
from  alcohol. 


medium  of  the  eyeball,  may,  like  other  colloidals,  be 
rendered  dense  and  opaque  by  processes  which  disturb  the 
relationship  of  the  colloidal  substance  and  its  water.  By 
such  process  of  disturbance  the  lens  of  the  living  eye  can 
be  rendered  opaque,  and  the  disease  called  cataract  can  be 
artificially  produced.  Sugar,  and  many  salts  in  excess  in 
the  blood,  will  lead  to  this  perversion  of  structure,  aud  in 
course  of  time  alcohol,  acting  after  the  manner  of  a salt, 
is  capable,  in  excess,  of  causing  the  modification.  In  the 
eyeball,  moreover,  alcohol  injures  the  delicate  nervous 
surface  upon  which  the  image  of  all  objects  we  look  at  is 
first  impressed.  It  interferes  with  the  vascular  supply  of 
this  surface,  and  it  leads  to  changes  of  structure  which  are 
indirectly  destructive  to  the  perfect  sense  of  sight. 

“ A perverted  state  of  the  vessels  of  the  brain,  and  an 
unnatural  tension  to  which  they  are  subjected  from  the 
stroke  of  the  heart  that  is  under  the  influence  of  alcohol, 
sets  up  one  telling  and  most  serious  phenomenon — I mean 
insomnia,  inability  to  partake  of  natural  sleep. 

“ The  brain  and  spinal  cord,  and  all  the  nervous  matter, 
like  other  parts,  become  subject,  under  the  influence  of 
alcohol,  to  organic  deterioration.  The  membranes  en- 
veloping the  nervous  substance  undergo  thickening ; the 
blood-vessels  are  subjected  to  change  of  structure  by  which 
their  resistance  and  resilience  are  impaired  ; and  the  true 
nervous  matter  is  sometimes  modified,  by  softening  or 
shrinking  of  its  texture,  by  degeneration  of  its  cellular 
structure,  or  by  interposition  of  fatty  particles. 

“ These  deteriorations  of  cerebral  and  spinal  matter  give 
rise  to  a series  of  derangements,  which  show  themselves 
in  the  worst  forms  of  nervous  disease. 

“ Epilepsy  is  but  an  extension  of  the  spasmodic  start. 
The  seizure  usually  occurs  at  first  in  the  night  and  during 
sleep,  and  may  not  be  distinguished  by  the  sufferer  himself 
from  one  of  many  old  attacks  of  what  he  probably  calls 
‘ nightmare.’  In  time  some  evidence  is  left  of  it  in  form 
of  bruise  or  bitter  tongue.  It  is  cured  sometimes  spon- 
taneously by  simple  total  abstinence  from  alcohol.  In  its 
later  stages  it  is,  however,  as  incurable  as  any  other  type 
of  this  serious  and  intractable  malady. 

“ Alcoholic  paralysis  developes  itself  in  two  forms  of 
paralytic  disease.  It  is  in  some  instances  local,  affecting 


PATHOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


139 


one  limb  or  one  side  of  the  body,  and  leaving  the  will  and 
the  memory  entire,  or  at  most  but  slightly  enfeebled.  It 
is  a paralysis  that  in  a chronic  manner  runs  counterpart 
with  that  deficient  power  of  co-ordination  of  the  muscular 
movements  which  marts  the  passage  from  the  second  to 
the  third  degree  of  acute  intoxication.  It  comes  on  steadily, 
gradually,  and  for  a long  period  seems,  to  the  victim  of  it, 
to  be  temporarily  relieved  by  the  use  of  the  agent  that 
produces  it.  At  last  it  is  complete,  and  as  a rule — to 
which  rule  nevertheless  there  are,  happily,  many  exceptions 
— it  is  irrecoverable.  The  exceptions  to  the  rule  would,  no 
doubt,  be  much  more  numerous  if  the  injunction  of  the 
physician  ‘ to  abstain  absolutely  ’ were  not  only  duly 
enforced  and  solemnly  promised,  but  faithfully  carried  out. 

“ The  second  form  of  alcoholic  paralysis  is  general  in  its 
development  and  accomplishment.  It  commences  com- 
monly after  a long  stage  of  muscular  feebleness,  persistent 
dyspepsia,  persistent  fcetor  of  the  breath,  and  many  other 
warnings,  with  thickness  of  the  speech  and  general  failure 
of  muscular  power.  To  these  symptoms  succeeds  that 
alienation  from  the  natural  mental  state,  known  as  loss  of 
memory.  This  extends  even  to  forgetfulness  of  the 
commonest  of  things ; to  names  of  familiar  persons,  to 
dates,  to  duties  of  daily  life.  Strangely,  too,  this  failure, 
like  that  which  indicates,  in  the  aged,  the  era  of  second 
childishness  and  mere  oblivion,  does  not  at  first  extend  to 
the  things  of  the  past,  but  is  confined  to  events  that  are 
passing.  On  old  memories  the  mind,  for  a limited  time, 
retains  its  power;  on  new  ones  it  requires  constant 
prompting  and  sustainment. 

“ If  this  failure  of  mental  power  progress,  it  is  followed 
with  further  loss  of  volitional  power.  The  muscles  remain 
ready  to  act,  but  the  mind  is  incapable  of  stirring  them 
into  action.  The  speech  fails  at  first,  not  because  the 
mechanism  of  speech  is  deficient,  but  because  the  cerebral 
power  is  insufficient  to  call  it  forth.  The  man  is  reduced 
to  the  condition  of  the  dumb  animal.  The  failure  of 
speech  indicates  the  descent  still  deeper  to  a condition  of 
general  paralysis  in  which  all  the  higher  faculties  of  mind 
and  will  are  powerless,  and  in  which  nothing  remains  to 
show  the  continuance  of  life  except  the  parts  that  remain 
under  the  dominion  of  the  chain  of  organic  or  vegetative 


140 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Prof.  Kraft- 
Ebing  on 
alcoholic 
tremor. 


Scientific 
American 
on  general 
diseases  re- 
sulting from 
beer. 


nervous  matter— the  picture  is  one  of  breathing  death ; of 
final  and  perpetual  dead  intoxication.” 

In  his  Psychiatrie  (Stuttgart,  1883),  Prof.  Kraft-Ebing 
says  of  the  distressing  uncontrollable  tremor  attending 
habitual  drunkenness — 

“ The  integrity  of  the  motor-functions  suffers  early 
among  drunkards.  The  most  important,  earliest,  most 
frequent,  most  lasting  disturbance  is  tremor  of  the 
voluntary  muscles.  It  is  most  pronounced  in  tongue,  lips, 
face,  hands.  It  may,  however,  become  wide-spread.  ...  It 
is  remarkable  that  this  alcoholic  tremor,  besides  its  form 
and  general  character,  is  most  pronounced  in  the  sober 
condition,  and  diminishes  after  partaking  of  alcohol. 

“ It  often  develops  at  the  beginning  of  the  disease  by 
reason  of  increased  reflex  excitability  of  the  spinal  cord  to 
general  convulsive  movements  and  twitching  in  the  calves. 
These  occur  especially  at  the  moment  of  falling  asleep,  and 
next  to  the  phantasms  are  the  principal  reason  of  the 
increased  difficulty  in  getting  to  sleep  from  which  these 
patients  suffer.” 

As  regards  the  general  diseases  resulting  from  the  use 
of  beers,  I quote  the  following  abstract  from  the  Scientific 
American,  published  in  the  Temperance  Record,  July  5, 
1883  : — 

“ For  some  years  past  a decided  inclination  has  been 
apparent  all  over  the  country  to  give  up  the  use  of  whisky 
and  other  strong  alcohols,  using  as  a substitute  beer  and 
other  compounds.  This  is  evidently  founded  on  the  idea 
that  beer  is  not  harmfnl,  and  contains  a large  amount  of 
nutriment ; also  that  bitters  may  have  some  medical 
quality  which  will  neutralize  the  alcohol  it  conceals,  etc. 
These  theories  are  without  confirmation  in  the  observations 
of  physicians’  chemists.  The  use  of  beer  is  found  to 
produce  a species  of  degeneration  of  all  the  organism, 
profound  and  deceptive.  Patty  deposits,  diminished  circu- 
lation, conditions  of  congestion,  perversion  of  functional 
activities,  local  inflammations  of  both  the  liver  and  the 
kidneys  are  constantly  present.  Intellectually  a stupor 
amounting  almost  to  paralysis  arrests  the  reason,  changing 
all  the  higher  faculties  into  mere  animalism,  sensual, 
selfish,  sluggish,  varied  only  with  paroxysms  of  anger  that 


PATHOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


141 


are  senseless  and  brutal.  In  appearance  tbe  beer-drinker 
may  be  tbe  picture  of  health,  but  in  reality  he  is  most 
incapable  of  resisting  disease.  A slight  injury,  a severe 
cold,  or  shock  to  the  body  or  mind,  will  commonly  provoke 
acute  disease,  ending  fatally.  Compared  with  inebriates 
who  use  different  kinds  of  alcohol,  he  is  more  incurable, 
more  generally  diseased.  The  constant  use  of  beer  every 
day  gives  the  system  no  recuperation,  but  steadily  lowers 
the  vital  forces.  It  is  our  observation  that  beer-drinking 
in  this  country  produces  the  very  lowest  form  of  inebriety, 
closely  allied  to  criminal  insanity.  The  most  dangerous 
class  of  ruffians  in  our  large  cities  are  beer-drinkers.  It  is 
asserted  by  competent  authority  that  the  evils  of  heredity 
are  more  positive  in  this  class  than  from  other  alcoholics. 
Recourse  to  beer  as  a substitute  for  other  forms  of  alcohol 
merely  increase  the  danger  and  fatality.  Public  sentiment 
and  legislation  should  comprehend  that  all  forms  of  alcohol 
are  dangerous  when  used.” 


B.  Mental  Phenomena  and  Diseases. 

§ 47.  The  mental  phenomena  due  to  alcohol  depend 
upon  the  physiological  disorders  produced  by  the  alcohol 
on  the  nervous  system,  and  in  the  degree  of  their  violence 
and  subtlety  cause  derangement  in  the  manifestations  of 
intelligence. 

Under  the  category  of  acute  alcoholism  science  includes 
all  those  appalling,  though  apparently  evanescent,  pheno- 
mena which  present  themselves  after  alcohol  has  been 
swallowed. 

In  his  Alcoholismus  (vol.  ii.,  1851),  Dr.  Huss,  of  Stock- 
holm, says,  “ Acute  alcoholism  may  be  divided  into  two 
groups.  1.  Such  symptoms  as  appear  in  persons  at  the 
time  of  intoxication,  but  who  are  not  often  intoxicated. 
2.  Such  as  characterize  the  condition  of  those  habitually 
intoxicated.  The  first  condition  is  that  of  drunkenness ; 
the  second  is  that  of  drink  craze  ( delirium  tremens').  In 
the  condition  of  drunkenness  three  distinct  degrees  may 
be  tolerably  clearly  discerned,  in  spite  of  the  variations 
depending  upon  the  amount  and  quality  of  the  dose — the 
age,  sex,  temperament,  and  disposition  of  the  drinker. 

“ The  first  degree  is  marked  by  increased  activity  of 


Dr.  Huss  on 
acute 

alcoholism. 


142 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


several  of  the  mental  and  bodily  functions,  increased 
temperature  of  the  skin,  which  receives  a richer  colour, 
a keener  sparkling  of  the  eye,  a stronger  muscular  activity, 
the  movements  being  more  lively  and  energetic,  the  pulse 
high,  the  heart-beats  fuller,  the  mood  easy,  and  both  past 
and  future  fade,  the  present  becoming  all.  This  state  is 
usually  termed  1 jolly.’ 

“ It  continues  for  a short  time,  and  then  languor  over- 
takes all  the  functions  whose  activity  has  thus  been 
heightened. 

“ The  second  degree  is  known  by  alternately  depressed 
and  exalted  activity,  morally  as  well  as  physically.  The 
face  becomes  red,  burning,  and  often  blazing.  The  eye 
loses  lustre,  stares,  sometimes  in  a feeble,  inane  way,  some- 
times with  a ferocious  expression  ; the  ears  are  filled  with 
rushing,  ringing  noises,  the  pulses  of  the  temple  and  neck 
beat  violently,  the  neck-veins  are  strongly  distended;  feel- 
ings of  faintness  are  experienced.  The  vision  is  blurred 
and  confused,  the  tongue  errant  and  stuttering,  the  heart 
throbs  strugglingly,  the  voluntary  muscles  lose  their 
elasticity,  i.e.,  their  continuous  elasticity ; the  walk  is 
uncertain,  stumbling  and  reeling ; the  skin  is  hot  and 
perspires,  the  secretion  of  urine  is  unusually  great,  the 
breath  smells  of  alcohol,  the  intelligence  is  in  a high 
degree  disordered,  and  mistakes  are  made  both  in  deed 
and  word,  which  the  sufferer  barely,  if  at  all,  remembers 
when  he  returns  to  sobriety. 

“ The  third  degree  is  characterized  by  a more  or  less 
complete  suspension  of  intelligence,  feeling,  and  power  of 
motion.  The  face  takes  on  a bluish-red  hue ; the  eye  is 
staring  and  glassy,  with  distended  pupil ; the  breathing 
is  a snoring  and  puffing-  with  open  mouth,  from  which 
often  dribbles  a frothy,  blood-mixed  saliva,  stinking  with 
alcohol ; the  heart  and  pulses  beat  weakly,  even  to  an 
almost  imperceptible  degree ; the  skin  temperature  declines 
till  finally  it  becomes  cold  and  clammy. 

“ The  muscular  system  is  so  enfeebled  that,  if  support 
is  removed  from  the  extremities,  they  fall  down  as  would 
a dead  mass,  and  so  completely  is  feeling  deadened  that 
the  hardest  pinch  is  not  felt,  and  both  hearing  and  vision 
are  equally  dulled.  Consciousness  is  totally  vanished,  and 
full  coma  has  taken  place.  This  state  of  unconsciousness 


PATHOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


143 


is  what  is  meant  by  the  term  ‘ dead  drunk,’  and  may  con- 
tinue for  eight,  twelve,  even  twenty-four  hours,  and  some- 
times longer. 

“ Though,  after  the  first  degree  of  drunkenness,  the 
normal  condition  returns  without  marked  results,  it  is  not 
the  case  after  the  second  and  third  degrees  have  been 
experienced.  After  awakening  from  these  the  head  is 
heavy,  sometimes  faint  and  dizzy,  aching  and  thumping, 
especially  over  the  eyes,  which  are  weak,  expressionless, 
and  bloodshot ; the  tongue  is  coated,  there  is  a bitter  and 
disgusting  flavour  in  the  mouth,  great  thirst  is  felt,  with 
aversion  for  food  ; vomiting,  a sense  of  tension  in  the  pit 
of  the  stomach,  foetid  eructions,  diarrhoea,  and  heavy  de- 
pression and  weakness  of  body  and  mind  follow  before  the 
heart  and  pulse  begin  to  beat  firmly  and  normal  health 
returns. 

“ When  death  occurs  from  drink,  the  brain  smells  of 
alcohol,  and  is  overfilled  with  blood,  the  lungs  are  packed 
with  black  blood,  the  heart  and  veins  are  sometimes  filled 
with  thick,  and  at  times  coagulated  blood — all  the  same 
general  signs  marking  death  from  narcotic  poisons. 

“ The  second  group  of  alcoholismus  acutus  is  delirium 
tremens , or  mania-a-potu  ” (described  by  Pliny  as  sleep 
agitated  by  fui-ies).  “ To  this  state  a person  comes  after  a 
long  use  of  alcoholic  drinks,  whether  he  has  taken  them 
periodically  or  steadily,  and  with  or  without  the  immediate 
results  of  being  drunk.  Indeed,  a course  of  drinking  which 
has  not  resulted  in  drunkenness  tends  more  directly  to  a 
final  culmination  in  this  dread  disease. 

“ The  outbreak  of  this  disease  is  usually  preceded  by 
gastric  disorders  for  a longer  or  a shorter  period,  followed 
by  insomnia,  with  inclination  to  fantasies.  In  other  in- 
stances it  breaks  out  suddenly  without  premonitions,  but 
in  such  cases — with  very  rare  exceptions — it  has  been 
provoked  by  some  accidental  causes,  such  as  violent  emotion, 
exterior  hurt,  great  loss  of  blood,  etc. 

“ The  charactei'istic  manifestations  of  this  disease  are 
similar,  consisting  chiefly  in  insomnia,  hallucinations,  and 
trembling  of  the  muscles.  A certain  unrest  takes  posses- 
sion of  the  whole  being  of  the  victim.  He  cannot  keep 
his  thoughts  together,  he  is  intensely  irritable  ; sleep  dis- 
appears or  is  broken  with  visions ; the  face  and  eyes  assume 


144 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Prof.  Kraft- 
Ebing  on  the 
analogy  of 
acute 

alcoholic  in- 
toxication 
with 
insanity. 


a livelier  seeming ; the  hands,  arms,  and  legs  tremble  in 
spite  of  his  efforts  to  restrain  this  tremor,  and  at  last  the 
full  delirium  leaps  forth.  This  may  be  continuous  or 
intermittent ; is  generally  most  violent  at  night  and  easiest 
during  the  forenoon.  At  its  height  it  is  violent  frenzy, 
but  at  moments  is  a preternatural  quiet  or  a burst  of  joy  ; 
these  spurious  lulls  being  of  all  kinds  and  grades.  This 
condition  continues  ordinarily  for  three,  four,  and  some- 
times six  or  seven  days,  when  it  succumbs  to  sleep,  -which 
is  critical,  lasting  for  eight,  twelve,  or  twenty-four  hours, 
sometimes  even  more,  and  usually  accompanied  by  profuse 
sweating.  On  awakening  from  this  the  sick  man  sees  no 
visions,  but  feels  clear  in  mind,  though  feeble  and  dejected, 
and  is  convalescent.  In  other  cases  this  sleep  is  short, 
disturbed  constantly  with  troubled  visions,  the  powers  sink 
more  and  more  into  collapse,  and  in  this  state  death  often 
closes  the  scene.” 

Prof.  Kraft-Ebing,  one  of  the  first  of  living  authorities 
on  insanity,  describes  (op.  cit .)  the  relations  between 
drunkenness  and  insanity  as  follows  : — “ Acute  alcoholic 
intoxication  furnishes  by  far  the  most  striking  analogy  with 
insanity,  at  the  same  time  the  most  comprehensive  one,  as 
it  represents  all  the  forms  of  the  same.  We  find  here 
all  the  forms  of  insanity,  from  the  condition  of  slight 
melancholy — as  intoxication  sometimes  produces  it  in  the 
form  of  the  so-called  drunken  misery — up  to  those  extreme 
states  of  complete  cessation  of  psychical  functions.  The 
most  severe  form  of  insanity — paralytic  dementia — is, 
under  the  form  of  intoxication,  sometimes  so  completely 
copied  as  to  be  with  difficulty  distinguished.  Strictly 
speaking,  intoxication  is  nothing  but  artificial  madness. 
In  most  cases,  the  first  effects  of  alcohol  are  seen  in 
slightly  insane  excitement. 

“ All  bodily  and  mental  actions  are  increased,  the  flow 
of  thought  quickened.  The  taciturn  become  talkative, 
the  quiet  lively.  A heightened  estimate  of  self  leads  to 
boldness,  bold  behaviour,  cheerfulness.  A greater  need 
for  muscular  movement,  a true  impulse  for  exercise,  shows 
itself  in  singing,  screaming,  laughing,  dancing,  and  all 
kinds  of  wanton  and  very  often  aimless  acts. 

“ The  laws  of  decency  are  still  respected,  form  and 
manner  are  observed,  a certain  self-control  is  exercised. 


PATHOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


145 


But  with  progressive  intoxication  a consecution  of  refined 
ideas  and  moral  judgments  which  control  and  influence  the 
sane,  are  abrogated  just  as  in  maniacs. 

“ At  this  stage  the  drunken  man  abandons  himself 
entirely,  reveals  the  defects  of  his  character  and  his  secrets 
(in  vino  veritas ),  sets  at  defiance  manners  and  decency, 
becomes  cynical,  brutal,  arrogant,  violent.  Now  he  has 
also  lost  the  capability  of  judging  of  his  position — he  con- 
siders himself  just  as  little  drunk  as  the  maniac  considers 
himself  mad,  and  is  offended  if  one  makes  a just  diagnosis 
of  his  case.  . . . There  is  a growing  inclination  to  all  the 
lowest  forms  of  vagabondism ; brutal  disregard  of  the 
rights  and  feelings  of  others,  excessive  sensuality  and  total 
shamelessness  leading  the  drunkard  to  all  sorts  of  profligacy 
in  the  open  street ; the  craze  for  reckless  purchase  and 
equally  instant  and  reckless  destruction  of  what  has  been 
bought,  and  the  revolting  egoistic  delusions  in  which  the 
drinker  fancies  he  is  enormously  wealthy,  an  emperor,  or 
claims  to  be  Christ  or  God  Himself ; and  the  tragical 
hallucination  that  he  is  pursued  for  the  purposes  of 
robbery  or  poison. 

“ Finally,  it  comes  to  a state  of  mental  weakness,  to  a 
loss  of  consciousness,  a vanishing  of  the  senses  ; there 
appear  hallucinations,  illusion  and  confusion  occur,  and  a 
state  of  deep  idiotic  stupor ; and  just  as  with  the  paralytic, 
slobbering  speech,  staggering  gait,  uncertain  movements, 
conclude  the  disgusting  scene.  The  similarity  between 
artificial  and  real  insanity  is  further  proved  by  the  fact  that 
sometimes — always  where  there  exists  a peculiar  tendency 
to  insanity — intoxication  exhausts  itself  in  the  very 
beginning  as  acute  delirium  or  transitory  mania;  or  even 
that  a single  intoxication  produces  immediate  and  lasting 
madness.” 


Since  the  days  of  Dr.  Huss,  medical  science  has  Dr.  Mason  on 
developed  yet  further  divisions  of  acute  alcoholism.  In 
Dr.  Lewis  D.  Mason’s  * address  on  Alcoholic  Insanity  at 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Association  for  the 
Cure  of  Inebriates  (April  26,  1883),  I find  the  following 
divisions  of  acute  alcoholism  : — 

* Consulting  Physician,  Inebriate  Asylum,  Fort  Hamilton,  Long 
Island,  U.S. 

L 


146 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Mania-a- 

potu. 


Character- 

istics. 


Examples. 


“1.  Acute  alcoholic  mania,  or  mania-a-potu. 

“ 2.  Acute  alcoholic  delirium,  or  delirium  tremens. 

“ 3.  Alcoholic  epileptiform  mania. 

“ Mania-a-potu  does  not,  as  a rule,  occur  in  the 
habitual  drunkard,  but  in  persons  who  occasionally  drink 
to  excess.  The  patient  is  unconscious  of  his  acts  during 
the  paroxysm,  and  usually  extremely  ashamed  and  re- 
pentant.” Ordinarily  the  attack  is  brief,  hut,  “ in  exceptional 
instances,  the  person  may  remain  maniacal  for  four  or 
five  days  after  a drinking  bout.  . . . There  is  no  crime  in 
the  calendar  that  these  alcoholic  maniacs  may  not  commit ; 
their  reason  is  temporarily  dethroned ; they  are  uncon- 
scious of,  not  the  character  of  their  actions  alone,  but  of 
the  acts  themselves,  and  are  therefore  irresponsible. 

“ One  characteristic  of  this  mania  is  that  the  natural 
strength  of  the  person  may  be  greatly  increased,  and  a man 
of  ordinary  physical  development  may  thus  become  a giant 
in  his  alcoholic  fury.  . . . Another  marked  characteristic 
of  mania-a-potu  is  that  it  is  not  preceded  or  followed  by 
delusions  or  hallucinations,  as  other  forms  of  alcoholic 
insanity  are.  The  assaults  are  apparently  motiveless,  the 
frenzy  cyclonic,  in  its  oftentimes  terrible  results.  . . . The 
following  case  occurred  in  my  experience. 

“ The  person  was  a United  States  contractor,  and  at 
times  received  large  sums  of  money  from  the  Government. 
He  was  an  occasional  inebriate : during  the  period  of  his 
debauches  he  was  very  violent,  dangerous  to  his  wife  and 
those  about  him,  making  assaults  on  every  one.  After  the 
paroxysms  of  mania  passed  off,  he  was  repentant,  extremely 
grieved,  and  did  all  in  his  power  to  amend  the  evil  he  had 
done.  After  one  of  his  fits  of  intemperance,  in  a mood  of 
repentance,  he  sought  to  conciliate  his  wife  by  the  ex- 
penditure of  a large  sum  of  money.  He  rented  a villa  on 
the  Hudson,  furnished  it  extravagantly,  bought  horses 
and  carriages,  and  employed  a retinue  of  servants,  and  in 
every  way  strove  to  make  restitution  for  his  past  misdeeds. 
Some  time  after  this — though  not  a lengthy  period — he 
received  a large  sum  of  money  from  the  Government,  and 
again  went  on  one  of  his  debauches,  returning  home  a mad- 
man. He  procured  an  axe  ; his  wife  fled  at  his  approach, 
and  locked  herself  in  a room  at  the  top  of  the  house  ; the 
servants  escaped  to  a neighbour’s.  The  maniac  had  full 


PATHOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


147 


control  of  tlie  premises,  and  proceeded  to  demolish  the 
furniture.  A grand  Steinway  piano  was  reduced  to 
splinters,  and  ruin  spread  in  every  direction  as  his  insane 
fury  dictated.  Fortunately,  he  met  no  one,  or  homicide 
would  most  certainly  have  been  added  to  his  acts  of 
destruction.  His  wife  eventually  procured  a divorce,  and 
he  died  in  an  asylum.  His  son  became  an  inebriate,  and, 
coming  under  my  care,  I was  enabled  to  obtain  the  family 
history. 

“ The  son  was  a periodical  inebriate,  and,  when  under 
the  influence  of  alcohol,  was,  like  his  father,  a maniac, 
aggressive,  homicidal,  and  with  exceedingly  dangerous  and 
destructive  tendencies.” 

Dr.  Mason  also  cites  the  following  from  the  fourth 
annual  report  of  the  Hew  York  State  Inebriate  Asylum 
(1866)  : — “ A young  man  in  Madison  Co.  in  this  State,  in 
the  year  1857,  while  under  the  attack  (mania- a-p  otu) , killed 
his  father  and  mother  and  cut  out  their  hearts,  which  he 
roasted  and  ate.  He  was  arrested,  thrown  into  prison, 
and  indicted  for  murder.  He  was  brought  into  court  for 
trial,  where  Judge  Gray,  of  the  Supreme  Court,  stated  that 
the  case  could  not  be  tried,  as  there  was  no  motive  to 
prompt  a man  to  commit  such  a crime,  and  the  man  was 
sent  to  the  Insane  Asylum.” 

“ In  acute  alcoholic  delirium , or  delirium  tremens ,” 
continues  Dr.  Mason — “ the  latter  synonym  being  often  a 
misnomer,  as  tremor  is  not  unfrequently  absent,”  but, 
unlike  mania-a-potu,  is  always  attended  by  hallucinations 
or  delusions — “ optical  delusions  are  present,  and  these 
are  readily  misconstrued  by  a disordered  intellect  into  all 
kinds  of  forms  and  fantasies,  horrible  or  grotesque.  There 
is  perversion  of  the  hearing,  and  natural  sounds  receive 
undue  importance,  and  are  readily  misinterpreted  by  the 
delirious  patient.  There  is  less  perversion  of  taste  and 
smell  than  of  the  other  senses  ; but  the  fact  that  the  former 
may  be  perverted  is  of  interest,  as  accounting,  in  some 
measure,  for  the  delusion  of  poisoning  so  common  in  the 
more  subacute  and  chronic  forms  of  alcoholic  mania. 

“ The  delirium  is  characterized  by  great  changeableness 
of  delusions,  although  there  is  one  delusion  of  fixed  pro- 
minence to  which  all  others  are  secondary.  The  perversion 
of  the  various  senses  form,  or  change,  or  direct  the 


Delirium 

tremens. 


Its 

symptoms. 


Its  general 
character- 
istics. 


143 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


I)r. 

Maudsley’s 
description 
of  delirium 
tremens. 


character  of  the  delusions,  which  are  accompanied  by 
hallucinations  of  hearing,  vision,  and  tactile  sensation. 
Ordinary  sounds  receive  undue  importance,  or  are  con- 
verted into  terrible  threats,  the  air  is  full  of  voices,  visions 
constantly  appear  and  disappear.  Commonplace  objects 
assume  the  form  of  demons  or  other  horrid  objects. 
Hypersesthesia  of  the  skin,  perverted  tactile  sensation,  gives 
the  belief  that  insects  are  crawling  over  the  integumen. 
Irregular  chilly  sensation  and  formication,  or  pricking 
sensations,  are  easily  converted  by  the  delirious  patient  into 
snakes,  rats,  or  other  vermin.  The  patient  borrows  his 
delusions  largely  from  his  surroundings,  although  all 
authorities  agree  that  the  avocation  of  the  patient,  or  the 
last  prominent  act  he  may  have  engaged  in,  establish  the 
central  delusion  of  his  delirium.  If  his  delusion  partakes 
largely  of  personal  danger,  he  makes  repeated  attempts  to 
escape,  and  often  effects  his  purpose  with  great  cunning. 

“ He  will  assault  those  about  him  in  his  attempts  to 
get  away,  or  if  he  imagines  they  are  his  enemies.  These 
acts  of  violence  are  generally  seen  in  the  more  maniacal 
form  of  delirium.  Delusions  of  a melancholic  character 
are  not  unfrequently  present ; preparations  are  being  made 
for  his  funeral,  the  table  is  a bier,  the  sheets  are  his  shroud  ; 
or  he  is  to  be  drowned,  or  hung,  or  terribly  abused  in  some 
way  ; he  begs  for  mercy,  he  prays  for  deliverance,  and  in 
a paroxysm  of  terror  may  commit  suicide  if  not  closely 
watched.” 

In  this  connection  Dr.  Mason  quotes  the  following  from 
Dr.  Maudsley : — 

“ Delirium  tremens  might  be  described  justly  as  an  acute 
alcoholism,  since  there  is  a chronic  alcoholism  which  is 
characterized  by  the  slow  and  gradual  development  of 
similar  symptoms  ; in  truth,  a chronic  delirium  tremens 
which  is  called  the  insanity  of  alcoholism.  Premonitory 
of  it  is  the  same  sleeplessness,  the  same  motor  restlessness, 
the  same  nausea  and  want  of  appetite,  that  go  before 
delirium  tremens.  Instead,  however,  of  the  rapidly  rising 
excitement,  the  changing  hallucinations  and  delirious  in- 
coherence then  following,  there  is  great  mental  disquietude 
with  morbid  suspicions  or  actual  delusions  of  wrong  in- 
tended or  done  against  him,  of  wilful  provocations  and 
persecutions  by  neighbours,  of  thieves  about  his  premises, 


PATHOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


149 


of  unfaithfulness  on  the  part  of  his  wife,  and  the  like 
suspicions,  which  are  frequently  attended  with  such  hallu- 
cinations of  hearing,  of  sight,  of  tactile  sensation,  as 
threatening  voices  heard,  insulting  gestures  or  mysterious 
signs  seen,  electrical  agencies  felt.  In  this  state  a violent- 
tempered  man,  resolved  to  be  even  with  the  scoundrels 
whom  he  declares  to  be  persecuting  him,  sometimes  does 
sad  deeds  of  violence.” 

Prof.  Kraft-Ebing,  in  his  book  on  Judicial  Psycho- 
Pathology  (Stuttgart,  1875),citesauthoritiesforsometerrible 
crimes  committed  under  the  hallucinations  produced  by 
drink ; for  example,  that  of  the  murder  committed  by  Thiel, 
a German  workman,  industrious  and  orderly,  and  a most 
affectionate  and  loving  husband  and  father.  In  a state  of 
drunkenness,  Thiel  was  suddenly  possessed  by  the  idea 
that  he  ought  to  kill  his  child.  He  sprang  from  the  bed, 
where  this  idea  came  to  him,  and,  sinking  in  terror  upon 
his  knees,  clasped  his  hands,  and  cried  out,  “ 0 Lord  God  ! 
Lord  Jesus  ! I must  kill  my  child  ! ” But  the  poor  wretch 
overcame  this  frenzy,  patted  the  little  fellow  on  the  head, 
and  bade  him  sleep.  Soon  after,  the  frightful  temptation 
returned  with  overwhelming  power ; he  seized  an  axe  and 
murdered  the  child,  muttering  agonized  prayers  and  weep- 
ing bitterly  as  he  did  the  deed,  which  at  once  sobered  the 
miserable  father. 

If  drink  can  thus  fearfully  and  totally  pervert  the 
affections,  how  terrible  and  subtle  must  be  its  effect  on 
the  whole  moral  being  ? 

Of  alcoholic  epileptiform  mania  Dr.  Mason  says, 
“ There  is  no  form  of  mania  more  dangerous  than  that 
which  occurs  in  the  epileptic  when  influenced  by  alcohol ; 
it  matters  not  whether  his  epilepsy  be  directly  due  to 
alcohol  or  to  other  causes.  . . . He  is  most  dangerous 
because  ‘ he  adds  to  the  impulses— sometimes  so  terrible — - 
to  which  he  is  subject  from  his  disease,  those  which  he 
draws  from  intoxication.’  ” 

The  symptoms  in  chronic  alcoholic  insanity  are  divided 
by  Dr.  Mason  into  several  groups. 

He  describes  the  first — chronic  alcoholic  mania — 
maniacal  type — homicidal  tendencies — as  “ one  of  the  most 
dangerous  types  of  mania  that  is  met  with,  especially 
when  the  mental  alienation  is  not  ushered  in  or  accom- 


Prof. 

Kraft-Ebing 
on  crimes 
committed 
under 
alcoholic 
hallucina- 
tions. 


Dr.  Mason 
on  alcoholic 
epileptiform 
mania. 


Chronic 

alcoholic 

mania. 

i 


150 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Its 

symptoms. 


Chronic 

alcoholic 

melancholia. 


Its  painful 
delusions. 


parn'ed  by  a febrile  condition,  or  other  symptoms  ttiat 
usually  point  out  a departure  from  health.  He  is  therefore 
not  regarded  as  a sick  man  by  his  friends,  although  they 
may  think  he  acts  a little  ‘ queer ; ’ he  is  moody,  taciturn, 
he  whispers  his  suspicions,  he  picks  out  his  special  enemies, 
he  prepares  himself  against  assault,  carries  weapons  on 
his  person,  or  conceals  them  in  a secret  place,  he  broods 
over  his  fancied  wrongs ; finally,  times  and  place  suit  his 
purpose,  the  revengeful  design  he  has  been  nursing  for 
months  and  hinting  about  to  his  immediate  acquaintances 
now  finds  an  outlet,  and  the  press  publishes  a case  of 
“ murder  in  cold  blood ; ” his  history  by  degrees  comes 
out,  experts  are  summoned,  his  true  condition  is  ascer- 
tained, and  he  is  sent  to  an  asylum.  One  very  common 
delusion  is  that  of  marital  unfaithfulness ; some  one, 
generally  a near  acquaintance  who  is  on  visiting  terms 
with  his  family,  is  selected  as  the  one  who  has  destroyed 
the  sanctity  of  his  hearth  and  home.  Too  often  his  insane 
delusions  are  treated  as  simply  jealousy,  but  it  is  a morbid 
jealousy  of  the  most  intense  character,  and  will  in  its  insane 
fury  take  the  life  of  some  innocent  victim.  It  is  a good 
rule  not  to  take  the  homicidal  vagaries  of  an  intemperate 
man  as  a matter  of  trifling  importance,  but  when  he 
breathes  out — it  may  be  threatening  and  slaughter, 
although  it  may  be  in  an  undertone — let  him  be  promptly 
arrested  and  examined  as  to  his  sanity.” 

Of  chronic  alcoholic  melancholia — suicidal  tendencies — 
Dr.  Mason  says,  “ The  patient  is  depressed,  weeps  readily, 
to  a certain  extent  he  is  confidential,  seems  to  crave  sym- 
pathy. He  will  follow  you  about,  and  ask  your  aid  against 
supposed  evils  that  are  impending  over  him.  I recall 
one  case  where  the  patient  believed  that  his  funeral 
would  take  place  in  a few  hours.  He  could  hear  people 
preparing  for  it ; he  begged  me  to  delay,  if  possible,  the 
ceremony ; he  was  exceedingly  sorrowful  and  depressed. 
The  delusions  are  various  ; persons  dead  are  living,  and 
the  living  are  dead.  Events  that  have  happened  long 
since  are  being  re-enacted.  Delusions  as  to  locality,  as  I 
have  said,  are  often  marked.  The  delusion  of  poison  in 
the  food  or  drink  is  oftentimes  a very  troublesome  one. 
Such  persons,  however,  will  take  ale  or  other  stimulants 
when  they  refuse  food,  a perversion  of  taste  being  the 


PATHOLOGICAL  RESULTS. 


151 


probable  cause  of  this  form  of  delusion  we  have  referred 
to.  This  delusion  is  usually  subsidiary  to  more  prominent, 
or  leading  mental  aberrations.  The  central  or  prominent 
delusion  is  the  first  to  come,  the  last  to  leave.  As  his 
disordered  intellect  rights  itself,  he  clings  to  this  often- 
times persistently,  and  finally,  when  his  reasoning  powers 
return,  he  listens  to  argument,  and  gives  up  his  delusions 
as  a fallacy.  It  is  a curious  fact,  as  in  the  case  we  have 
mentioned,  that  in  subsequent  attacks  or  relapses  the 
same  delusions  so  prominent  in  previous  attacks  return, 
and  remain  with  the  same  persistency.” 

It  would  seem  as  if  the  intelligent  and  thoughtful 
would  find  in  the  manifestations  of  the  simplest  forms  of 
drunkenness  alone,  an  all-sufficient  warning  against  the  use 
of  alcohol.  Yet  these  are  but  the  first  signals  in  a series 
of  warnings  so  terrible  that,  in  view  of  them,  it  is  truly 
surprising  that  alcoholism  ever  became  a universal  ill ; or 
would  be  so,  did  we  not  in  this  very  fact  discover  one  of 
the  worst  effects  of  the  evil — the  stultifying  of  moral 
sensibility. 

In  the  mental  phenomena  included  under  the  head 
of  alcoholic  insanity,  we  find  that  the  physical  channels 
for  the  expression  of  intelligence  have  been  so  corroded 
and  mutilated  by  alcohol,  that  the  communication  between 
body  and  mind  becomes  always  partially,  sometimes 
wholly,  vitiated,  and  what  is  left  of  it  so  perverted,  that 
the  alcoholic  has  practically  reversed  the  “ descent  of 
man  ” — has  dropped  himself  to  a plane  where  morally  the 
beasts  are  above  him.  And  still  greater  than  the  evil  thus 
done  to  himself  and  those  around  him,  is  that  which  he 
does  to  succeeding  generations  in  transmitting  this  curse. 


152 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Inquiry  into 
the  relations 
between 
drink  and 
crime. 


Erroneous 
inferences  of 
a writer  in 
the  Pall  Mall 
Gazette , Nov. 
9,  1883. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MORAL  RESULTS. 

§ 48.  One  of  the  most  difficult  points  to  settle  in  the 
investigation  of  the  drink  question  is  that  of  alcohol  as 
a cause  of  crime.  That  drink  is  a chief  cause  of  crime 
is  disputed  not  only  by  those  who  wish  to  prevent 
the  truth  from  being  known,  but  also  by  some  of  those 
who  really  wish  to  know  the  truth ; and  such  marshalling 
of  accurate  data,  philosophical  research,  medical  and 
psychical  analysis,  as  would  take  it  out  of  dispute,  has 
not  yet,  it  seems,  been  adequately  brought  to  bear  upon 
it.  If,  as  the  judges  of  criminal  courts  affirm,  and  as 
facts  everywhere  seem  to  confirm,  drink  is  the  chief 
cause  of  crime,  it  is  of  the  first  importance  that  a know- 
ledge of  this  fact  should  be  grounded  in  the  popular  mind, 
as  it  would  undoubtedly  and  naturally  do  more  than  any- 
thing else  to  convince  the  general  public  of  the  real  scope 
and  character  of  the  drink  evil.  The  importance  of  this 
is  emphasized  at  intervals  by  the  publication  in  reputable 
journals  of  ingenious  documents,  which  by  omitting  the  com- 
parative data,  necessary  to  a correct  understanding,  and  by 
erroneous  deductions,  convey  impressions  wide  of  the  truth. 

One  example  will  suffice  in  illustration.  In  the  Pall 
Mall  Gazette  (Nov.  9,  1883)  appeared  the  following: — 

“ Is  Drink  the  Chief  Source  of  Crime  ? 

“ A correspondent  writes  to  us  as  follows  on  the  subject 
of  intemperance  and  crime  : — - 

“It  is  by  no  means  an  unusual  circumstance  for  judges 
at  assizes  and  recorders  at  courts  of  quarter  sessions,  while 
addressing  grand  juries,  and  deploring  the  increase  of 


MORAL  RESULTS. 


153 


crime,  to  speak  of  its  close  relationship  with  intemperance, 
regarding  the  one  as  the  sure  harbinger  of  the  other.  If 
the  accepted  theory  be  true,  the  districts  where  drunken- 
ness more  extensively  prevails  would  be  the  most  prolific 
in  crime,  and  drunkenness  and  crime  would  rise  and  fall 
in  the  social  barometer  in  equal  degrees.  Is  it  so  P Let 
us  see. 

“ The  residents  of  the  rural  districts  of  Durham  are 
more  prone  to  habits  of  intoxication  than  those  of  any 
other  county  in  England,  and  this  evil,  unfortunately,  is 
on  the  increase.  In  1879  the  number  of  persons  charged 
by  the  county  police  with  the  offence  of  drunkenness  was 
7178;  in  1880  the  number  was  8088;  in  1881,  9124. 
The  number  of  crimes  committed  in  the  same  districts 
was,  in  1879,  549;  in  1880,  414;  in  1881,  426.  While, 
therefore,  drunkenness  has  been  increasing,  crime  has  been 
decreasing,  and  while  the  charges  of  drunkenness  for  the 
year  amount  to  nearly  fifteen  for  every  thousand  of  the 
population,  the  crimes  only  reach  0'7  per  thousand.*  The 
people  of  Essex  may  be  considered  the  most  sober  of  all 
the  inhabitants  of  the  country.  The  charges  for  drunken- 
ness last  year  numbered  289,  or  0'9  to  every  thousand. 
The  number  of  crimes  committed  there  numbered  455,  or 
nearly  twice  the  number  of  charges  against  persons  for 
drunkenness ; but  in  Durham  twenty  persons  would  be 
charged  with  drunkenness  to  one  charged  with  a crime 
that  would  be  necessary  to  be  tried  by  a jury.  Pro  rata 
with  the  population  also  crime  is  twice  as  extensive  in 
Essex  as  in  Durham. 

“Northumberland  is  another  county  where  intemperance 
runs  high,  yet  the  number  of  crimes  committed  by  the 
rural  population  was  in  1879,  76.  In  1880  the  number 
was  102 ; and  in  1881,  67,  or  0'3  per  thousand  of  the 
population.  In  1879  the  number  of  persons  charged  with 
drunkenness  by  the  police  was  1916  ; in  1880,  1967  ; in 
1881,  2145  ; so  that  here  also,  while  drunkenness  has  been 
increasing,  crime  has  been  decreasing.  Bedfordshire  is 
another  county  where  drunkenness  exists  to  a very  limited 
extent.  The  number  of  persons  charged  here  with  drunken- 
ness in  1879  was  232 ; in  1880,  206  ; in  1881,  176,  or 
equal  to  1'7  for  every  thousand  of  the  population.  The 
* See  testimony  of  Justice  Hawkins  in  chapter  X. 


154 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


crimes  committed  here  were,  in  1879,  76 ; in  1880,  82  ; 
in  1881,  102  ; or  equal  to  l'O  per  thousand — so  that  crime 
is  three  times  greater  in  Bedfordshire  than  in  Northum- 
berland.” 

The  writer  goes  over  Lancashire,  Shropshire,  Sunder- 
land, etc.,  in  the  same  manner,  and  suggests  at  the  close 
that — 

“ It  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  multiply  the  number 
of  these  illustrations  to  show  that  the  close  relationship 
between  drunkenness  and  crime  is  a fallacy,  and  that  the 
real  source  of  crime  exists  in  some  influence,  or  some 
failing  in  moral  rectitude,  outside  that  which  leads  to 
intemperance.”  * 

* Referring  to  this  document  in  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  the  Alliance 
News  (November  17,  1883)  says — 

“ In  some  police  districts  large  numbers  of  drunken  cases  are 
dismissed  without  being  taken  formally  before  the  magistrates. 
This  especially  prevails  where  such  cases  are  in  overwhelming 
abundance.  Moreover,  as  a rule,  in  districts  where  drunkenness  is 
most  abundant,  the  tone  of  public  feeling  against  it  is  apt  to  be  most 
relaxed,  and  the  disposition  to  regard  tipsy  noisiness  as  a peccadillo 
not  worthy  the  notice  of  the  police  is  pretty  sure  to  be  most  preva- 
lent. In  such  districts  Watch  Committees  and  magistrates  are  often 
personally  implicated  in  the  liquor  traffic,  and  naturally  fail  to  en- 
courage their  servants,  the  policemen,  to  be  strict  to  mark  and  severe 
to  seize.  Where  mayors,  aldermen,  and  other  leading  public  men  are 
addicted  either  to  liquor-selling  or  to  liquor-tippling,  even  their 
silent  influence  will  always  act  as  a damper  on  the  zeal  of  the  con- 
stable. Hence  it  commonly  happens  that  where  there  is  most 
drunkenness  the  number  of  apprehensions  by  the  police  tends  to 
dwindle,  whereas  these  are  likely  to  be  more  numerous  where  public 
opinion  is  most  widely  awake  to  the  enormity  and  iniquity  of  the 
liquor  traffic.  Considerations  like  these  are  quite  sufficient  to  show 
the  folly  of  using  the  police  books  of  different  districts  in  proof  of  the 
comparative  drunkenness  of  those  districts.  For  the  rest  we  need 
only  add  that  when  the  judges  protest,  as  earnestly  as  they  are 
always  doing,  that  most  of  the  crime  that  comes  before  them  officially 
is  evidently  caused  by  strong  drink,  they  speak  not  in  view  of  the 
number  of  police  apprehensions  of  drunkards,  but  in  direct  recognition 
of  the  plain  and  undeniable  facts  that  present  themselves  to  their 
senses  in  dealing  with  criminal  cases  in  their  own  courts.  To  doubt 
the  correctness  of  their  conclusions  on  such  a matter  is  equivalent  to 
writing  down  some  of  the  most  able  men  in  the  kingdom  as  poor, 
brainless,  chattering  fools.” 

I may  add  that  the  deference  due  to  such  statements  as  those 
made  by  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette’s  correspondent  must  equally  be  due 
to  statements  of  precisely  similar  scope  and  grasp;  as,  for  instance, 


MORAL  RESULTS. 


155 


These  figures  might  mislead  very  many  who  are  not 
specially  and  amply  informed  upon  the  subject,  and  not 
familiar  with  the  various  data,  or  the  way  in  which  such 
data  essentially  affects  computation,  comparison,  and 
deduction.* 

This  “ correspondent  ” challenges  the  almost  unanimous 
testimony  of  the  principal  judges  of  the  United  Kiugdom 
— a testimony  covering  scores  of  years  of  experience — that 
drink  is  the  chief  cause  of  crime.  In  this  challenge  one  of 
two  things  is  plainly  intimated  : either  that  the  Judicial 
Bench  of  Great  Britain  have  been  and  are  fools  or  knaves  ; 
either  these  men,  whose  business  it  is  to  inquire  into  the 
causes  of  crime  and  to  pronounce  the  verdict  of  law  upon 
the  criminal,  have  been,  and  are,  all  incompetent,  or  else 
have  deliberately  deceived  the  public.  Certainly  no  sober 
Englishman  will  admit  the  former ; and  as  to  the  latter, 
it  would  be  difficult  to  discover  or  devise  a motive,  or  a 
combination  of  motives,  sufficient  to  induce  even  one- 
still  less  a long  succession  of  judges — to  concur  in  such 
a misrepresentation.  Even  were  judges  constitutionally 
prone  to  misstatements,  no  public  body  could  be  less 
interested  in  doing  so,  on  the  topic  in  question. 

In  stating  the  increase  in  arrests  for  drunkenness  during 
the  last  three  or  four  years — since  the  temperance  agita- 
tion has  become  vitally  a popular  factor — the  Pall  Mall 
correspondent  does  not  manifest  any  knowledge  of  the 
well-known  fact  that  the  laws  against  drunkenness  in 
public  have  been  enforced  with  increased  vigour  during 
this  period,  in  various  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom.  Yet 
this  fact  is  essential  to  an  approximately  accurate  com- 
parison of  the  general  relations  between  drink  and  crime. 
For  instance,  during  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  when 
intoxication  was  regarded  as  a feat  rather  than  a degrada- 

those  of  a recent  writer  on  the  Topography  of  Intemperance  (Mac- 
millan’s Magazine,  Jan.  1882),  who  naively  alludes  to  “ this  singularity 
in  both  towns  and  counties,  that  generally  the  larger  number  of 
public-houses  will  be  found  where  there  is  the  smallest  amount 
of  drunkenness,  and  ...  in  Durham  drunkenness  prevails  to  a far 
greater  extent  than  in  any  other  English  county.”  Ergo,  make  the 
people  sufficiently  and  unanimously  drunk  and  there  will  be  no  crime  ; 
multiply  public-houses  and  there  will  be  no  drunkenness ! ! ! Durham 
seems  on  the  whole  a most  remarkable  county ! 

* See  opening  remarks  of  chapter  X.  concerning  statistics. 


156 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Relations 
between 
sobriety  and 
crime  as  con- 
trasted with 
the  same  be- 
tween drink 
and  crime. 


Examples  of 
unintentional 
alcoholic 
criminality. 


The  quality 
of  drunken- 
ness shown 
to  be 

dependent  on 
the  kind  of 
drink  used, 
and  on  the 
tempera- 
ment and 
circum- 
stances of 
the  drinker. 


tion,  and  hardly  any  one  was  arrested  for  it ; crime  was 
terribly  prevalent — what  would  this  correspondent  have 
deduced  from  statistics  of  the  relations  between  drink  and 
crime  then  F 

However  difficult  it  may  be  to  demonstrate  the  exact 
relations  between  drunkenness  and  crime,  there  is  happily 
not  the  same  difficulty  in  establishing  the  relations  between 
sobriety  and  crime ; of  a hundred  persons  in  the  dock, 
few,  if  any,  are  total  abstainers ; and  the  relations  between 
sobriety  and  the  absence  of  crime  is  being  daily  practically 
demonstrated  on  various  prohibition  estates,  as  at  Bess- 
brook  in  Ireland,  etc. 

So  far  as  I have  been  able  to  pursne  investigation  on 
this  point,  I have  been  specially  impressed  with  the 
following  facts. 

Crimes  are  not  often  conceived  or  committed  during 
actual  drunkenness,  though  often  very  dreadful  ones  do 
result  from  the  negligence  and  oblivion  of  drink  ; such  as 
the  sea  captain  commits,  when  an  overdose  of  grog  makes 
him  steer  his  ship  on  dangerous  reefs  ; or  the  engineer, 
whose  extra  glass  means  a mismanaged  engine,  a collision, 
and  the  mangling  and  killing  of  people  trusted  to  his  care ; 
or  the  drunken  officer,  when  he  muddles  the  order  of  his 
commander,  and  prematurely  or  altogether  mistakenly 
exposes  his  men  to  slaughterous  fire ; or  the  drunken 
physician,  whose  reckless  prescription  or  whose  total 
neglect  results  in  the  death  of  some  beloved  one  and  the 
blasting  of  dear  human  hopes  ; or  the  drunken  lawyer, 
who  tipples  away  the  life,  honour,  or  property  of  his 
helpless  client. 

The  quality  of  drunkenness  depends  greatly  on  the 
nature  of  the  intoxicant  used,  as  well  as  upon  the  tempera- 
ment and  physical  condition  of  the  drinker.  For  example, 
it  is  well  known  that  drunkenness  occasioned  by  malt 
liquors  generally  induces  a sluggishness  of  mind,  a lethargy 
of  the  senses,  to  which  frenzy  or  ferocity  in  thought  or 
act,  to  which  the  formation  of  a plan,  or  execution  of 
one  previously  conceived,  are  almost  impossible. 

It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  effect  of 
malt  liquors  is  greatly  determined  by  the  quality  of  the 
hops  and  the  presence  or  absence  of  cocculus  indicus  or  other 
adulterating  ingredients.  In  an  article  on  Beer  and 


MORAL  RESULTS. 


157 


Crime  ( Medical  Times  and  Gazette,  London,  April,  1872), 
the  following  statement  with  regard  to  beer  occurs  : — 

“ Its  intoxicating  power  is  far  greater  than  can  be  ac- 
counted for  by  the  mere  alcohol  it  contains.  . . . Cheap 
and  coarse  varieties  of  the  hop,  a plant  nearly  allied  to 
the  Indian  hemp  or  bhang,  may  be  capable  of  producing 
a furious  delirium  quite  apart  from  alcoholic  intoxica- 
tion. ...  A magistrate’s  clerk  once  told  us  that  the 
worst  assaults  and  crimes  of  violence  in  his  district  were 
men  who  drank  at  public-houses  supplied  by  one  particular 
brewery.” 

Wines — with  the  exception  of  the  strongest  and  most 
viciously  adulterated — generally  cause  an  idiotic  jollity, 
silly  good-humour,  meaningless  generosity,  coupled  often 
with  a kind  of  loose  frankness  of  sensuality.  Brief  clioler, 
sufficient  for  the  commission  of  sudden  crimes,  is  possible 
to  this  condition,  but  evil  designs  previously  harboured  are 
unlikely  to  recur  or  be  carried  out. 

On  the  other  hand,  spirituous  liquors,*  especially  those 
containing  quantities  of  fusil  oil — such  as  raw  whiskies, 
gin,  etc. — excite  almost  invariably  a demon-like  frenzy, 
and  when  thus  intoxicated,  people  who  in  a sober  state 
would  neither  conceive  of,  nor  countenance  violence,  lust, 
or  destruction  of  property  or  life,  become  capable  of  any 
imaginable  infamy  and  crime. 

These  distinctions,  which  deserve  most  careful  atten-  The  true 
tion,  and  a large  variety  of  sub- distinctions  and  differen-  afcohoiic1^ 
tiations,  are  necessary  to  any  proper  comprehensive  criminal, 
estimate  of  the  relations  between  drinking  and  crime.  ac  lvlty' 
But  the  general  truth  remains,  that  not  in  the  drunken 
state,  but  in  the  various  intermediary  stages  between 
sobriety  and  intoxication,  lies  the  field  of  alcoholic  criminal 
activity. 

§ 49.  It  has  been  seen  in  the  foregoing  pages  how  General 
alcoholic  drinking  lowers  the  whole  plane  of  physical  health ; philological 
that  it  ruins  digestion,  poisons  the  circulation,  making  it  and  mental 
sluggish,  as  in  the  amphibious  creatures  ; that  it  preserves  resu  3’ 
waste  tissue  and  checks  excretion, — making  the  human 
body,  so  to  speak,  a case  or  cask  of  preserved  compost ; 

* “Beer  is  brutalizing;  wine  impassions ; whisky  infuriates,  but 
eventually  unmans.” — Dr.  Book,  of  Leipsic,  in  article  on  the  “ Moral 
Effects  of  Pood  and  Drink,”  in  British  Medical  Journal  (1879). 


158 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr.  Hufeland 
on  the 
insuscepti- 
bility to 
remedy  of 
the  drinking 
habit. 


Fable  of  the 
drunken  man 
and  sober 
Pig- 


Physical  and 
moral  effects 
parallel. 


that  this  internal  condition  is  presently  externally  adver- 
tised in  disgusting  changes  of  the  countenance  and  bearing  ; 
that  the  nervous  system  after  continued  over- excitation 
becomes  eccentric  and  fitful  in  its  action — -small  causes 
putting  it  to  the  highest  tension  of  irritability,  while  great 
reasons  for  excitement  are  regarded  with  apathy  ; that 
these  derangements  are  attended  with  baleful  visions, 
impure  fantasies,  weariness  with  self  and  disgust  with 
life  ; the  whole  hydra  evil  culminating  in  idiocy,  insanity, 
and  temptations  to  and  commission  of  all  kinds  of  crimes 
and  sensualities,  theft,  incendiarism,  suicide,  and  murder. 

Thus,  in  one  terrible  group  we  have  the  physical  and 
mental  results  of  alcoholism  inextricably  involved  with 
the  moral  results,  one  causing  the  other  and  vice  versa,  in 
a system  of  consecutive  inseparable  reactions — a banyan 
tree  of  human  misery. 

“ Other  vices,”  says  Dr.  Hufeland,  in  his  work  on 
Poisoning  by  Brandy  (1802),  “admit  the  hope  of  amend- 
ment, but  this  performs  its  work  of  destruction  thoroughly, 
and  without  the  prospect  of  remedy,  for  it  extinguishes  in 
the  system  all  susceptibility  for  remedy,”  and  indeed  all 
consciousness  of  the  need  of  such  susceptibility. 

I remember  once  reading  a fable  to  this  effect : — Once 
there  was  lying  by  the  side  of  a ditch,  a pig.  On  the 
other  side  lay  a man.  The  pig  was  sober,  the  man  was 
drunk.  The  pig  had  a ring  in  its  nose,  the  man  had  a 
ring  on  his  finger.  Some  one  passing  exclaimed  so  that 
the  pig  heard  it — “ One  is  judged  from  the  company  he 
keeps.”  Instantly  the  pig  rose  and  went  away. 

As  the  alcohol-poisoned  body,  in  its  need  for  its  life- 
essential — water — takes  more  and  ever  more  of  the  poison 
that  creates  but  never  slakes  that  thirst,  so  the  alcohol- 
poisoned  mind — in  its  need  of  the  pure  medium  for  its 
manifestations  with  which  it  was  originally  endowed — all 
clouded  and  astray,  plunges  deeper  and  deeper  into  all 
forms  of  reckless,  coarse  excesses,  its  hope  for  ever  mocked 
by  its  own  rudderless  drifting  continuance  in  sin-begetting 
sin. 

For  though  body  and  spirit  are  distinct,  yet  in  this  life 
and  for  this  life’s  purposes  they  are  indissoluble,  man 
having  no  expression  beyond  the  manifesting  power  of  the 
physical  mechanism  he  dwells  in.  Thus  it  is  seen  once 


MORAL  RESULTS. 


159 


and  for  all  that  a physical  effect  is  a moral  effect.  As  the 
sap  in  the  tree  permeates  to  the  least  curl  in  the  least 
rootlet,  and  so  determines  what  the  tree  shall  be  in  the 
air,  so  whatsoever  permeates  man’s  physical  system  de- 
termines in  kind  and  degree  the  manifestation  of  his 
spirit. 

But  in  saying  that  a physical  effect  is  always  a moral 
effect,  one  great  exception  must  be  made  by  marking  the 
distinction  between  harm  voluntarily  and  harm  arbitrarily 
incurred.  Bor  example,  an  upright  man,  clean  in  mind, 
heart,  and  habit,  who  would  not  of  himself  under  any 
temptation  abuse  his  body,  or  ignore  those  rights  of  others 
invested  in  its  purity,  may  in  many  ways  be  forced  to  do 
so  through  poverty,  by  exhausting  labour,  bad  air,  and 
poor  food  ; or  through  wanton  capxdce  he  might  be  bound 
hand  and  foot,  and  have  alcohol  poured  down  his  throat 
till  he  was  “ dead  drunk,” — and  instances  for  my  meaning 
might  be  multiplied  ad  infinitum  from  facts. 

In  these  cases  the  body  suffers  just  as  much  as  if  the 
abuses  had  occurred  by  the  consent  of  the  will,  but  the 
mind  and  character  do  not — a beautiful  evidence  of  the 
existence  in  the  body  of  a tenant  superior  to  and  distinct 
from  itself. 

Of  course  such  arbitrary  injury  could  be  inflicted, 
could  extend  over  such  a period  as  to  undermine  the  moral 
force,  but  the  very  fact  that  it  takes  time  and  much  time 
to  do  such  devil’s  work  as  this,  only  serves  to  point  my 
distinction. 

But  wherever  a physical  effect  is  produced  by  the  will’s 
consent,  we  may  look  for  the  moral  result  in  kind,  and  at 
last  for  the  most  deplorable  of  all  results — in  the  extinction 
of  will  either  to  consent  or  reject. 

In  his  Confessions,  Charles  Lamb,  one  of  the  brightest 
of  gentle  spirits  ever  extinguished  in  the  baleful  fires  of 
alcoholism,  wrote  : — 

“ Could  the  youth,  to  whom  the  flavour  of  his  first 
wine  is  delicious,  look  into  my  desolation,  and  be  made  to 
understand  what  a dreary  thing  it  is  when  a man  feels 
himself  going  down  a precipice  with  open  eyes  and  a 
passive  will — to  see  his  destruction  and  to  have  no  power 
to  stop  it,  and  yet  to  feel  it,  all  the  way,  emanating  from 
himself ; to  perceive  all  goodness  emptied  out  of  him,  and 


A notable 
exception  to 
this  rule. 


Charles 

Lamb’s 

pathetic 

warning. 


100 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  effect  of 
alcoholism 
on  the  will. 


Difference 
between  will 
and  inten- 
tion. (“The 
road  to  hell 
is  paved  with 
good 

intentions .” 
— Martin 
Luther.) 


Instance  of 
the  power  of 
drink  to 
annihilate 
the  will. 


yet  not  be  able  to  forget  a time  when  it  was  otherwise — to 
bear  about  the  piteous  spectacle  of  self-ruin ! ” 

§ 50.  The  chief  power  by  which  we  attain  and  maintain 
true  womanhood  and  manhood  is  the  power  of  will,  of 
sane  decision.  And  this  power  is  the  first  stronghold  to  be 
attacked  by  alcoholism.  If  alcohol  were  a sentient  being, 
it  could  hardly  act  with  greater  apparent  intelligence  than 
it  does  in  its  insidious  sapping  and  mining  of  the  will,  as 
if  it  knew,  that  redoubt  once  carried,  no  further  resistance 
need  be  feared.  In  this  subjugation  of  the  will,  alcohol 
incidentally  but  very  remarkably  defines  the  distinction 
between  will  and  intention — so  often  mistaken  for  each 
other,  to  the  moral  shipwreck  of  the  mistaking  ones. 
Will  forms  and  carries  out  intention,  but  intention  is  not 
will. 

In  alcoholism  the  will  is  destroyed,  and  intentions — - 
like  the  arrows  in  a slain  chieftain’s  quiver — become  the 
passive  agents  of  the  victor’s  bow. 

Is  there  a more  contemptibly  pitiable  sight  than  that  of 
the  will-less  drunkard,  who,  with  half-drained  glass  in  his 
shaking  hand,  assures  you  that  it  is  “ hizh  ’ntenzhn  to 
shtop  drink’ng  ” P 

Dr.  John  Cheyne,  of  Dublin,  in  A Statement  of  Certain 
Effects  of  Temperance  Societies  (1829),  cites  this  remark- 
able instance  of  the  thraldom  of  drink,  especially  in  its 
power  to  keep  down  the  once  conquered  will.  A gentleman 
of  birth  and  refined  tastes,  deservedly  popular  for  his 
attractive  qualities,  became  habitually  intemperate.  A 
dear  friend  wrote  to  him,  “ Your  family  are  in  the  utmost 
distress  ou  account  of  this  unfortunate  habit.  They  see 
that  your  business  is  neglected,  your  moral  influence  is 
gone,  your  health  is  ruined.”  To  this  he  replied,  “Your 
remarks  are  indeed  too  true,  but  I can  no  longer  resist 
temptation.  If  a bottle  of  brandy  stood  on  one  hand 
and  the  pit  of  hell  yawned  on  the  other,  and  if  I knew 
that  I would  be  pushed  in  as  surely  as  I took  one 
more  glass,  I could  not  refrain.  . . . You  are  all  very 
kind.  ...  I ought  to  be  grateful,  . . . but  spare  your- 
selves the  trouble  of  trying  to  reform  me;  the  thing  is 
now  impossible.” 

Man’s  will  being  destroyed — facilis  descensus  Averni, 
and  that  “ Hell  is  the  shadow  of  a soul  on  fire,”  becomes 


MORAL  RESULTS. 


161 


bilities  of 
life  : as  son  ; 


the  actual  experience  of  the  tempest-exhausted  spirit,  and 
in  that  gloomy  shadow  the  panic-stricken  family  of  the 
drunkard  leads  a rayless  cowering  life,  more  dreary  than 
Christian’s  in  the  Yalleys  of  Humiliation  and  the  Shadow 
of  Death — and  there  is  no  Great-heart  to  bear  the  poor 
wife  and  mother  company — to  teach  or  defend  the  hapless 
children. 

As  son,  citizen,  neighbour,  husband,  father,  and  friend,  Moral  in- 
the  drunkard  is  insolvent ; his  responsibilities  in  all  these  thedrinker 
relations  are  like  obligations  discharged  by  spurious  notes,  in  the 
first  consciously — for  he  is  not  a sot  at  once — afterwards  respond- and 
mechanically  offered.  His  mother ! Does  he  remember 
the  never-weary  love,  the  gentle,  watchful  care  and  service 
and  self-sacrifice,  which  rounded  his  young  life  day  by 
day  ? Hay,  to  get  a quartern  of  whisky  he  would  pawn 
the  bed  on  which  she  lies  dying. 

His  fellow-citizens,  his  neighbours,  his  friends  ! Why,  citizen, 
they  are  persons  to  be  borrowed  from,  if  they  will  lend ; to  “ncffriend’- 
be  stolen  from,  if  they  won’t ; to  be  chicaned,  cheated, 
cajoled,  worried,  and  wearied  into  giving  the  means  for 
drink — almost  always  on  pleas  of  a chance  that  can  only 
be  secured  by  a little  ready  money  (for  drones  and  knaves 
are  cunning  in  the  use  of  pleas  which  could  honestly  be 
urged  by  the  deserving),  a dodge  deceiving  neither;  and 
the  meanness  of  the  drunkard  in  these  relations,  grafts  a 
reflex  meanness  and  sense  of  guilty  partnership  upon  the 
one  who  helps  him  down. 

The  drunkard’s  wife  ! Is  she  a being  to  cherish,  watch  Husband 
over,  and  serve  as  a sane  man  finds  his  happiness  in  andfather- 
doing  F Oh  no,  a victim  to  vent  all  his  unleashed  and 
degraded  passions  on,  to  cheat,  to  wheedle,  to  poison,  to 
make  into  a penny-earning  drudge,  and  to  beget  poisoned 
offspring  from. 

There  is  the  reverse  side,  where  the  wife  is  the  one 
who  drinks  away  her  intelligence,  and  sinks  into  the 
deepest  mire  of  degradation,  neglecting  her  husband  and 
her  children,  destroying  love,  respect,  and  hope,  bringing 
her  family  to  want  and  despair,  and  keeping  them  there. 

Such  a home  is  the  most  miserable  spot  on  earth — it 
is  more  wretched  than  the  home  where  all  are  drunkards, 
for  the  contrast  between  the  vain  efforts  and  piteous  hope-  ^u™kenf wife 
lessness  of  the  husband  and  father  striving  as  he  does  to  and  mother. 

M 


162 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


As  con- 
trasted with 
the  same 
home  when 
the  wife  and 
mother  bears 
her  burdens 
in  patience 
and  sobriety. 


retain  his  own  manhood,  to  he  mother  as  well  as  father 
to  his  helpless  children,  and  the  complete  and  obstinate 
resistance  of  the  besotted  companion  and  spoiler  of  his 
days — is  one  to  make  the  stoutest  hope  for  the  race  falter. 
To  such  a home  comes  the  weary  father  from  his  work  at 
night— to  see  the  dirt  and  the  disorder  he  was  forced  to 
leave  unremedied  in  the  morning — grown  worse  for  the 
orgie  of  the  day — to  see  the  children  huddled  away  from 
the  mumbling,  blear-eyed,  towzled,  filthy-smelling  heap  on 
the  straw,  which  is  all  they  know  of  motherhood,  and  all 
he  will  ever  know  of  wifehood  ; wailing  for  food,  or  too 
cold  to  wail,  or  perhaps  stupefied  from  fear,  or  perhaps 
sucking  at  the  half-drained  bottle  which  has  fallen  from 
the  mother’s  palsy-loosened  clutch,  too  stunted  and 
blunted  to  be  glad  to  see  him,  even  though  he  brings  them 
the  only  food  and  the  only  care  they  ever  get. 

This  is  as  much  worse  than  where  the  father  alone  is 
the  drunkard,  as  the  degraded  woman  is  a worse  and  lower 
creature  than  the  degi’aded  man.  Worse,  too,  because  to 
womanhood  and  motherhood  God  has  given  the  dominating 
moral  effectiveness,  whether  for  good  or  evil. 

And  in  the  drunkard’s  home,  where  the  faithful  wife 
and  mother  bears  her  burden  without  sinking  into  the  sin 
which  causes  it,  you  will  see  something  of  the  meaning  of 
home  saved  to  him  and  his  family,  something  of  the  clean- 
liness and  system  which  produce  some  kind  of  daily 
routine,  a time  for  and  a semblance  of  daily  meals,  however 
meagre  the  fare ; the  little  ones  are  washed  and  combed, 
and,  as  far  as  may  be,  saved  from  the  worst  contact  of  the 
slums,  where  the  father’s  sin  locates  the  home ; and  often 
in  one  or  more  of  the  children  you  will  see  a wonderful 
moral  force  and  power  of  sympathy  and  helpfulness,  by 
which  the  unfortunate  mother’s  steps  are  stayed,  and  her 
heart  saved  from  utterly  breaking ; for  whatever  poison 
the  child  has  received  from  its  father,  the  mother’s  love 
and  virtue  has  also  entered  in  to  combat — to  transmute, 
and,  if  not  to  eradicate,  at  least  to  prevent  its  gaining 
the  supremacy ; and  often  it  seems  that  the  mother’s 
character  has  been  able  to  wholly  form  and  infuse  that  of 
the  child,  confining  the  evil  birthright  bestowed  by  the 
erring  father  to  the  child’s  stunted  and  crippled  body. 
Rarely  indeed  are  such  signs  of  hope  found  among  the 


MORAL  RESULTS. 


163 


offspring  of  the  debauched  mother,  whatever  the  father  may- 
be, and  in  those  rare  cases  it  is  generally  found  that  such 
children  were  born  before  the  mother  had  become  degraded. 

And  how  terrible  in  its  deprivations  is  the  curse  entailed 
by  the  alcoholized  father  on  such  children  as  the  mother’s 
virtue  has  partially  saved,  not  only  the  hospitals — with  their 
bedridden  little  forms,  always  painfully  wistful,  and  often 
lovely  little  faces — but  the  streets,  with  their  misshapen 
figures  of  malformed  and  half-limbed,  wan-faced,  and  pre- 
maturely old  children  bear  witness. 

Oh,  fathers  and  mothers  in  pleasant  homes,  where 
want  and  its  temptation  have  never  come,  whose  little  ones 
are  rosy  with  health  and  innocent  sheltered  happiness, 
whose  fair  white  shapes,  clear  radiant  eyes,  soft  eager 
voices,  and  kisses  dew-pure,  fill  you  with  delight  and 
reverence,  and  make  you  understand  at  least  why  He 
should  say,  “ Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  ! ” Oh, 
take  heed,  take  heed  for  those  other  wronged  and  defrauded 
little  ones  who  are  worse  than  motherless,  fatherless,  and 
homeless,  and  for  their  sakes,  and  that  such  as  they  may 
no  more  be  called  out  of  the  darkness  into  yet  darker  life 
- — for  these  surely  good  and  loving  reasons  put  away — and 
be  first  in  putting  for  ever  away  from  your  lips,  and  your 
homes,  and  your  example — this  one  indulgence,  not  missed 
from  among  your  luxuries,  that  by  your  easy  and  self- 
benefiting  sacrifice  you  may  enter  into  such  fellowship 
with  the  humblest  as  will  rebuke,  inspire,  and  sustain 
them.  For  what  we  have  done  unto  the  least  of  these, 
that  alone  shall  we  be  able  to  take  with  us  to  speak  for  us 
when  we  have  left  all  the  possessions  and  all  the  distinc- 
tions of  this  world  behind. 

§ 51.  Though  there  are  grades  and  varieties  of  alcoholic 
degradation,  and  all  do  not  sink  equally  low  or  manifest  like 
degrees  and  kinds  of  lusts,  ferocities,  or  bestial  indifference, 
yet  the  dark  picture  given  is  the  true  picture  of  the 
general  effect  of  alcoholism  on  the  moral  being  of  man. 
And  if  we  closely  study  the  details  which  make  this  dark 
whole,  we  shall  see  more  and  more  of  the  subtle  and 
intricate  ways  by  which  the  loss  of  will  unravels  the 
character  stitch  by  stitch,  till  it  has  neither  form  nor 
significance,  and  is  but  a limp  thread  trailed  hither  and 
thither  by  the  fitful  winds  of  temptation. 


The  gradual 
weakening 
and  final 
destruction 
of  character. 


1G4 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  clever 

disguises 

assumed 

by  the 

alcoholized 

will. 


In  political 
life. 


In  the  rela- 
tions between 
master  and 
man. 


For  though  alcoholism  always  undermines  the  will,  the 
degree  in  which,  it  does  so  is  determined  hy  the  mental 
quality  and  temperament  of  the  drinker,  and  the  extent  to 
which  he  carries  the  habit.  So  that  in  some  instances 
moderate  drinking  has  totally  undermined  the  will,  while 
in  others,  excessive  drinking  has  only  partially  overcome 
this  power.  In  all  cases,  however,  the  will  is  so  far 
sapped  that  every  relation  in  life  is  more  or  less  tainted 
with  the  dry-rot  of  unreliability. 

The  loss  of  will  hy  alcoholism  has  many  deceiving 
forms,  often  takes  on  the  shape  of  good-natured  concession, 
as  in  the  politician  who,  even  while  believing  in  the  true 
principle,  and  wishing  well  to  the  right  measure  in  the 
issue  at  stake,  succumbs  to  the  first  sufficient  urgency, 
without  regard  to  his  own  convictions,  is  called  obliging, 
and  thinks  himself  so,  hut  in  reality  yielded  because 
resistance  was  not  in  him.  This  is  a negative  action  of 
will-lessness,  very  multiform  in  its  phases,  very  widespread 
and  vitiating  in  its  effects  on  social  and  political  life. 

But  there  is  another  kind  in  which  all  will  but  self-will 
is  gone.  The  politician  in  this  case  is  morally  nil;  he 
does  not  even  negatively  lean  toward  integrity,  he  cares 
only  to  gain  some  higher  position,  some  more  sounding 
honour,  some  larger  pay,  and  sells  his  vote  and  buys  as 
many  of  the  votes  of  others  as  he  can  for  the  gaining  of  his 
end,  promising  anything  and  everything  without  the 
faintest  intention  of  carrying  it  out.  He  is  spoken  of  as  a 
man  of  iron  will,  sure  to  make  his  way,  to  carry  his  object, 
and  he  thinks  himself  a man  of  strong  will.  He  is  only  an 
egoist,  morally  unable  to  resist,  or  even  to  hesitate  at,  any 
evil  whereby  his  selfish  aim  is  assured. 

Alcoholism  comes  in  to  spoil  the  relations  between  the 
master  and  the  working  man. 

The  drinking-  working-  man,  no  matter  how  skilled  and 

O O' 

clever  in  his  workmanship  when  sober,  cannot  claim  the 
full  wages  of  his  skill,  because  he  cannot  be  relied  on,  and 
his  master  is  always  on  the  look-out  for  a sober  and  steady 
skilled  artisan,  with  whom  to  oust  and  replace  the  drinker. 
The  latter  may  work  well  for  many  days,  but  suddenly  one 
morning  he  comes  into  the  shop,  and  in  three  minutes  has 
blundered  away  material  worth  a week’s  wages,  or  by  his 
derangement  of  the  machinery  some  luckless  comrade  is 


MOEAL  EESULTS. 


165 


cut  in  pieces,  or,  if  furious  instead  of  maudlin,  he  has  in 
a few  minutes  smashed  more  than  he  can  make  good  in 
weeks  or  months  of  labour.  And  yet,  again,  is  missing  for 
days  when  work  is  pressing  and  hands  cannot  be  spared. 

The  master  who  drinks,  even  though  he  be  what  is 
called  a moderate  drinker,  is  thereby  a tacit  patron  of  all 
this  unreliability,  and  himself  illustrates  it,  often  failing  to 
carry  out  special  promises  to  his  men,  thinking  he  will, 
but  lacking  will-power  to  do  more  than  think  and  promise, 
and  his  unreliability  further  vitiates  the  relations  between 
master  and  man.  In  every  relation  in  life  alcoholism, 
whether  slowly  or  swiftly,  surely  destroys  all  certainty  but  And  in 
the  certainty  of  disaster  and  downfall,  for  the  individual,  general  hfe- 
for  governments,  for  the  race. 

The  tragedies  and  crimes  to  which  alcoholism  leads  are  Alcoholism’s 
as  various  as  the  moral  unreliabilities  which  are  the  first  fradations, 

. from  moral 

steps  towards  crimes.  unreii- 

The  crimes  are  not  committed  only  or  most  frequently  to  turpitude 
during  actual  drunkenness,  but  as  the  results  of  a long  and  crimes, 
course  of  the  drinking  habit  which  has  sapped  the  will, 
ossified  the  heart,  paralyzed  the  conscience. 

The  forger  must  be  sober,  but  to  be  capable  of  forgery  The  forger, 
he  must — perhaps  not  in  all,  but  in  most  cases — have  been 
morally  emasculated  by  drink,  or  have  inherited  the 
absence  of  moral  perception  and  moral  force  which 
alcoholism  brought  about  in  his  progenitors. 

The  burglar  must  be  wary  and  cool,  but  alcohol  and  its  The  burglar, 
effects  must  have  gone  before,  either  in  him  or  his  fathers, 
ere  he  can  choose  this  sort  of  livelihood. 

The  murderer  lying  in  wait  for  his  victim  is  cool — but  The 
somewhere  in  him  or  his  fathers  the  demon  of  drink  has  mui'derer- 
persuaded  him  that  gold  is  worth  blood  purchase. 

On  the  other  hand,  these  same  crimes  and  various 
others  are  also  committed  not  in  coolness  nor  in  ferocity, 
even  when  deliberated,  but  from  inability  to  resist  the 
pressure  of  circumstances  made  up  of  goading  needs, 
stimulated  and  supplemented  by  sudden  or  gradually 
augmenting  temptations.  In  these  two  distinct  orders  of 
criminals,  guilty  of  precisely  the  same  crimes,  we  see  the 
action  of  the  loss  of  moral  will  in  its  two  forms  : the  The  negative 
negative  loss,  which  may  exist  with  painful  longings  to  be  loss  ol  Wlll‘ 
better  without  power  to  even  determine  to  try ; and  the 


166 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  positive 
loss  of  will. 


Rev.  Chan- 
ning  on  the 
difference 
between 
poverty  with 
and  without 
drink. 


positive  loss,  which  means  absence  of  the  moral  will,  i.e., 
of  desire  to  be  good  and  true,  as  in  avarice,  cold-blooded 
murder,  and  savage  lust.  Prof.  Kraft-Ebing  says  that 
the  drinker  loses  clear  sense  of  what  is  hononrable,  moral, 
and  decent,  grows  indifferent  even  to  such  conflict  between 
good  and  evil  within  him  as  remains  possible ; indifferent 
to  the  ruin  of  his  family,  to  the  contempt  of  bis  fellow- 
citizens  ; and  that  hand  in  hand  with  these  results  goes 
that  of  increasing  irritability,  until  his  violent  tempers 
burst  out  without  provocation  and  become  literally  un- 
governable. 

In  associating  the  evils  of  intemperance  with  the  evils 
of  poverty,  we  are  apt  to  think  of  them  as  identical,  and 
the  poverty  as  almost  the  worst  of  the  two. 

Rev.  William  Ellery  Channing,  in  his  address  on 
Temperance,  in  Boston  (1837),  thus  ably  discriminated  on 
this  point : — 

“ Intemperance  is  to  be  pitied  and  abhorred  for  its  own 
sake,  much  more  than  for  its  outward  consequences.  These 
consequences  owe  their  chief  bitterness  to  their  criminal 
source.  We  speak  of  the  miseries  which  the  drunkard 
carries  into  his  family.  But  take  away  his  own  brutality, 
and  how  lightened  would  be  these  miseries.  We  talk  of 
his  wife  and  children  in  rags.  Let  the  rags  continue  ; but 
suppose  them  to  be  the  effects  of  an  innocent  cause. 
Suppose  the  drunkard  to  have  been  a virtuous  husband 
and  an  affectionate  father,  and  that  sickness  and  not  vice 
has  brought  his  family  thus  low.  Suppose  his  wife  and 
children,  bound  to  him  by  a strong  love,  which  a life  of 
labour  for  their  support  and  of  unwearied  kindness  has 
awakened  ; and  suppose  them  to  know  that  his  toil  for 
their  welfare  has  broken  down  his  frame;  suppose  him 
able  to  say,  ‘We  are  poor  in  this  world’s  goods,  but  rich 
in  affection  and  religious  trust.  I am  going  from  you,  but 
I leave  you  to  the  Father  of  the  fatherless  and  to  the 
widow’s  God.’  Suppose  this,  and  how  changed  these 
rags  ! How  changed  the  cold  naked  room  ! The  heart's 
warmth  can  do  much  to  withstand  the  winter’s  cold,  and 
there  is  hope,  there  is  honour,  in  this  virtuous  indigence. 
What  breaks  the  heart  of  the  drunkard’s  wife  is  not  that 
he  is  poor,  but  that  he  is  a drunkard. 

“We  look  too  much  at  the  consequences  of  vice,  too 


MORAL  RESULTS. 


167 


little  at  tlie  vice  itself.  It  is  to  be  desired  that  when  man 
lifts  a suicidal  arm  against  his  highest  life,  when  he 
quenches  reason  and  conscience,  that  he  and  all  others 
should  receive  a solemn  startling  warning  of  the  greatness 
of  his  guilt ; that  terrible  outward  calamities  should  bear 
witness  to  the  inward  ruin  which  he  is  working  ; for  the 
outward  evils,  dreadful  as  they  seem,  are  but  faint  types  of 
the  ruin  within.  We  should  see  in  them  God’s  respect  to 
His  own  image  in  the  soul,  His  parental  warnings  against 
the  crime  of  quenching  the  intellectual  and  moral  life.” 

In  the  sacredness  of  family  life — -as  the  foundation  Thefounda- 
and  perpetual  well-spring  of  human  worth,  happiness,  and  human 
progress  ; in  the  incorruptible  faithfulness  of  men  and  happiness, 
women,  not  to  their  pleasures  and  impulses,  not  even  to  progress'.1*1 
their  individual  aspirations,  but  to  their  plain  daily  duties 
and  responsibilities  towards  others, — whether  these  duties 
have  been  voluntarily  assumed  or  by  circumstances  forced 
upon  them — in  these  things  in  this  conduct  of  life — though 
personal  hopes  may  be  lost — manhood  and  womanhood 
inSnitely  more  precious  than  any  personal  gain,  remain 
pure  and  effective ; and  childhood — the  most  direct  and 
solemn  of  all  the  trusts  a gracious  God  reposes  in  us — is 
protected. 

It  is  only  when  the  passion  of  love  is  separated — 
wrenched  from  its  citadel  and  source  in  the  crystal  sphere 
of  modesty  and  true,  deep  affection  where  divine  wisdom 
planted  it,  to  live  for  ever  and  be  the  for  ever  fresh  and 
for  ever  sweet  inspiration  to  all  human  loyalties  ; it  is  only 
when  selfishness  and  insidious  self-betrayal  outrages  and 
dislodges  it,  that  it  is  lost  out  of  God’s  meaning  and 
purpose,  and  becomes  the  sensual  fury  which  goads  men 
and  women  to  break  all  ties,  all  fidelities ; to  forget  what 
honour  is  like,  and  grovel  weakly  in,  or  ferociously  gloat 
over,  the  degradation  of  all  that  is  meant  by  the  good 
words  “ love  ” and  “ home.” 

And  it  is  here  in  the  home-world,  the  heart-world,  that  Drink  the 
drink,  having  subjugated  the  will,  confused  and  gradually  enemy  of 
obliterated  moral  distinctions,  comes  at  last  to  its  chief  prey,  these, 
the  affections,  the  emotions,  the  passions,  and  does  the  most 
deadly,  the  most  ruinous — because  the  most  irreparable — of 
all  its  fell  work.  In  its  blight  the  man  who  wooed  with 
fervour  and  wedded  with  pure  intent,  parts  first,  slowly, 


168 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


■with  self-respect,  and  then  more  rapidly  with  all  other 
respect,  and  sells  or  forsakes  his  wife,  as  callous  to  her 
anguish — yes,  actually  becomes  as  incapable  of  under- 
standing it  as  of  caring  for  it — as  he  is  indifferent  to  the 
coarseness  of  the  vile  women  he  consorts  -with  in  her 
stead  ; or,  worse,  he  makes  his  wife  a physical  sharer  in 
his  own  pollutions,  regardless  of  the  result  to  her  or  to 
the  children  who  may  inherit.  Brothers  traffic  in  the 
honour  of  their  sisters ; some  men  gamble  literally  with 
their  wives  for  the  stakes,  or  pledge  their  daughters  for 
cash  to  the  lowest  libertine  that  can  pay — yes,  and  act  as 
the  decoy  in  fulfilling  the  atrocious  pledge  ! * Finally,  as 
the  circle  narrows,  as  the  lusts  exhaust  themselves,  the 
alcohol- driven  wretch  slinks  more  and  more  into  the  lowest 
haunts,  where  unimaginable  forms  of  sensuality  submerge 
him  at  last  in  imbecility,  whose  fainter  and  fainter  gleams 
of  consciousness  consist  of  impotent  throes  of  the  degraded 
senses.  Then  total  darkness,  and  the  results  of  the  work 
of  alcoholism  are  complete. 

Of  course,  in  dealing  with  a great,  widely  prevailing 
evil,  only  the  general  sum  of  its  effects  can  be  presented 
in  any  one  work  of  ordinary  dimensions  ; and  it  is  under- 
stood that  this  sum  comprises  almost  infinite  variations  of 
kind,  of  method,  of  degrees,  of  effect  that  may  not  be 
categorically  specified. 

For  example,  in  showing  that  drink  destroys  will,  moral 
perception,  conscience,  affection,  self-respect,  and  regard 
for  others — in  saying,  in  a word,  that  the  drinker  sinks 
into  lower  than  bestiality  until  the  final  extinction  of  all 
manliness,  I am  not  asserting  that  every  taster  of  wine 
sinks  to  the  lowest  level,  or  that  any  one  or  all  of  these 
evil  results  is  at  once  and  strongly  manifested  in  every 
drinker.  If  this  were  so,  surely  no  books  need  be  written, 
no  pledges  taken,  no  prayers  be  made,  no  tears  be  shed 
to  save  man  from  alcoholism.  That  which  is  asserted 
is,  that  drink  tends,  however  slowly  and  insidiously,  and 

* Cardinal  M’Cabe,  in  a recent  pastoral  on  the  state  of  Ireland, 
speaks  of  the  degraded  men  and  women  “ who,  that  their  fierce 
passion  for  drink  may  be  satisfied,  would  sell  wife,  husband,  or  child 
to  any  one  who  would  minister  but  for  a day  to  their  insatiable 
cravings  for  drink.” 


MORAL  RESULTS. 


169 


with  whatever  delay  of  apparent  signs,  in  every  case  to 
these  results  ; if  persisted  in,  manifests  them  in  more  or 
less  marked  degrees,  that  the  danger  of  the  worst  squarely 
menaces  whoever  forms  the  habit,  and  that  in  a frightful 
numerical  proportion  this  worst  has  been  and  is  being 
daily  realized  all  around  us. 

“At  what  particular  point  does  any  man  cease  to  be 
sober  and  begin  to  be  drunk  ? What  quantity  or  strength 
of  alcohol  may  one  imbibe  with  the  perfect  assurance  of 
retaining  the  sober  equilibrium  of  all  his  faculties  ? How 
long  may  one  be  accustomed  to  a very  moderate  daily 
quantity  of  wine  or  spirits  without  incurring  any  danger 
of  forming  an  appetite  for  strong  drink?  These  and  other 
such  questions  cannot  be  answered,  because  there  is  no 
line  discernible,  and  no  ingenuity  can  calculate  where  or 
when  the  line  is  crossed  which  separates  moderation  from 
excess,  sobriety  from  drunkenness. 

“ There  is  a point  indefinitely  near  the  starting  point 
of  unmistakable  sobriety,  and  yet  some  distance  from  it, 
where  a slight  derangement  of  the  mental  powers,  a little 
dimness  of  intellectual  vision,  some  lack  of  tenderness  in 
conscience,  some  relaxing  of  the  power  of  will — all  im- 
perceptible, it  may  be,  to  others — become  at  least  suspected 
by  the  individual  himself  . . . but  while  it  would  be 
uncharitable  and  rude  in  the  estimation  of  society,  and 
libellous  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  to  call  this  by  the  name 
of  drunkenness ; yet,  call  it  by  what  name  we  will,  it  is 
a departure  from  strict  absolute  sobriety,  and  an  incipient 
movement  along  the  line  which  leads  to  the  grossest 
intemperance.  The  higher  nature  has  begun  to  lose,  and 
the  lower  to  gain  influence  and  strength ; it  needs  but  a 
little  more  impetus  in  the  same  direction,  it  needs  but 
the  same  process  repeated  sufficiently  often  to  create  the 
drunkard’s  appetite,  and  to  procure  the  drunkard’s  name. 
A start  has  already  been  made  along  that  line  which  is  so 
thickly  strewn  with  the  wreck  of  much  that  was  great 
and  noble  lying  in  accumulated  masses  of  degradation, 
wretchedness,  and  crime.”  * 


I have  avoided  exaggeration  ; I have  kept  well  within 

* Temperance  Reformation,  and  its  Claims  upon  the  Christian 
Church,  by  Rev.  James  Smith  (London,  1875). 


170 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


the  bounds  of  the  truth  which  my  researches  have  un- 
expectedly revealed  to  me ; I have  purposely  refrained 
from  citing  from  the  multitudes  of  proved  and  certified 
instances  of  the  worst  evils  as  I have  described  them,  lest 
by  too  greatly  shocking  and  even  stunning  the  sensibilities 
of  my  readers  I should  thwart  my  hope  of  helping  to 
arouse  deep  feeling  and  genuine  sustained  effort  to  com- 
prehend and  overcome  this,  the  worst,  the  secretest,  the 
stealthiest,  bloodthirstiest,  cruelest,  and  strongest  fiend  that 
has  ever  got  into  the  hearts,  the  homes  of  men — to  arouse 
this  feeling  and  this  purpose  in  every  heart  this  little  book 
reaches,  as  this  feeling  and  purpose  have  been  aroused  in 
mine. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


HEREDITY,  OR  THE  CURSE  ENTAILED  ON  DESCENDANTS  BY 
ALCOHOL. 

A law  of  ancient  Carthage  forbade  all  drinks  but  water  on  days 
of  marital  intercourse. 

“ Drunkards  beget  drunkards.”- — Plutarch. 

“ The  children  of  drunkards  are  not  likely  to  have  sound  brains.” 

— Gellius. 

“ Dipsomania  is  always  hereditary,  always  a spontaneous  neurosis, 
absolutely  independent  of  the  habits  of  the  individual.” — Dr.  Folle. 
ville. — See  Quarterly  Journal  of  Inebriety  (October,  1883),  p.  260. 

§ 52.  The  perpetuation  of  the  human  race,  together  with  the 
extinction  of  what  is  valueless  to  it— whether  individual, 
family,  tribe,  or  nation — are  closely  regulated  by  laws  which 
in  themselves  manifest  the  profoundest  wisdom. 

On  the  laws  of  heredity  especially,  a seal  is  set  which  The  laws  of 
no  man  can  completely  violate;  i.e.,  though  he  may  infringe  protection  to 
upon  and  disregard  all  other  general  laws  of  his  being,  the  race, 
until  to  all  intents  and  purposes  they  cease  to  be  carried 
out,  the  laws  by  which  he  bequeaths  himself  to  new 
generations  will  continue  to  effectuate  themselves  even 
after  he  has  lost  the  mental  and  physical  individuality 
through  which  the  general  laws  act. 

Were  we  insulated  in  our  individualities  instead  of  Theresponsi- 
being  intimately  interdependent,  we  might  do  harm  to  parentage, 
ourselves  and  deny  all  right  of  interference  or  even 
remonstrance  from  without : but  since  in  nothing  can 
we  act  without  producing  an  endless  consecution  of  effects 
touching  the  lives  and  rights  of  others; — in  nothing  can 


172 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr.  Marc 
Lorin  on  the 
general  laws 
of  heredity. 


Dr.  Bourgeois 
on  heredity. 


we  have  so  little  right  to  act  without  the  thoughtfullest, 
most  unselfish  regard  to  the  claims  of  others,  as  in  the 
chief  act  for  which  we  are  qualified — the  act  of  creating 
a new  being  who  shall  partake  of  our  essence  in  himself 
and  transmit  the  same,  whatever  its  quality,  to  untold 
successive  generations. 

For  we  are  pre-eminently  parents  ; the  race  lives  only 
in  the  possible  motherhood  or  fatherhood  of  each  individual, 
and  the  desire  for  children  and  devoted  attachment  to  them 
is  the  most  ineradicable  feeling  and  deepest  fundamental 
law  of  all  healthy  mature  being. 

Therefore,  to  what  end  the  laws  of  heredity  shall  be 
effectuated,  is  the  foremost  question  which  concerns  us  as 
responsible  beings. 

Dr.  Marc  Lorin,  in  his  General  View  of  the  Laws  of 
Heredity  (Thesis  for  the  degree  in  medicine,  Paris,  1875), 
says : — 

“ The  transmission  of  characteristics  of  species  and 
race  is  admitted  by  everybody  who  deals  with  the  body  or 
the  soul.  Nobody  fears  to  admit  within  these  limits  the 
fatality  of  birth.  It  is  thus  that  every  historian  refers  to 
the  national  character  in  explaining  the  events  in  the  lives 
of  a people,  recognizing  its  persistence,  and  pronouncing 
the  consequences  often  inevitable.  The  French  of  this  day 
recognize  themselves  in  the  portrait  of  the  Gauls  as  drawn 
by  Julius  Caesar.  The  modern  Greeks  are  in  many  respects 
the  same  whom  Demosthenes  addressed.  If  you  take  a 
young  savage  whose  parents  were  hunters,  vain  will  be 
your  efforts  to  cultivate  him  and  adapt  him  to  the  habits 
of  civilized  life.  The  voice  of  his  ancestor  speaks  to  him, 
incessantly  recalling  him  to  the  instinct  and  adventures  of 
forest  life. 

“ Heredity  is  the  result  of  a very  general  law,  by 
virtue  of  which  all  the  anatomic  elements  of  the  body 
possess  the  property  of  giving  direct  birth  to  similar 
elements,  or  of  determining  in  their  own  vicinity  a genera- 
tion of  elements  of  the  same  kind  (Littre  et  Robin).  The 
phenomena  of  nutrition  depend  upon  this  same  law,  by 
virtue  of  which  the  human  body,  incessantly  renewed, 
remains  always  identical  with  itself  from  the  distribution 
of  atomic  elements.” 

Dr.  Bourgeois,  in  L' Amour  (1860),  says  that — 


HEREDITY. 


173 


“ In  transmitting  the  germ  of  life,  parents  transmit  to 
their  children  their  own  resemblance,  physical  and  moral. 

The  children  are  parts  of  ourselves ; it  is  our  flesh,  our 
blood,  our  souls,  our  examples,  our  lessons,  our  passions 
which  re-live  in  them.” 

Dr.  E.  G.  Figg,  in  his  Physiological  Operation  of  Alcohol  Dr.  Figg. 
(Manchester,  1862),  says — - 

“ Is  organic  conformation  transmissible  to  posterity  ? 

In  our  bitter  experience  we  know  it  is.  Half  a dozen 
brothers  and  sisters  perish  in  phthisis,  and  the  physician 
explores  the  antecedents  of  the  family  for  the  origin  of 
the  catastrophe.  A man  drops  dead  with  valvular  disease 
of  the  heart,  and  on  the  transit  of  a few  years  the  accident 
is  repeated  in  the  person  of  his  son,  simply  because  the 
basis  of  the  disease  was  communicated  in  an  organ 
defectively  constructed. 

“ And  is  a cerebral  conformation  less  hereditary  than 
tubercular  diathesis,  or  cardiac  imperfection  ? The  very 
breeders  of  horses  insure  docility  in  the  progeny,  by  the 
existence  of  that  quality  in  the  parentage.  Consider  the 
mental  vigour  manifested  in  various  families,  generation 
after  generation.  The  Gregories,  the  Alisons,  the  Sheridans, 
the  Kembles,  the  Porters,  the  Munros ; if  talent  be  in- 
herited, it  can  only  be  conveyed  with  the  peculiar  cerebral 
structure  exhibiting  it.” 

Although  the  ephemeral  traits  of  the  parents  may  Tbe  scope  of 
seldom  reappear  in  the  children — only  that  which  has  effects'*^ 
become  individualized  being  generally  transmitted — yet 
we  constantly  have  evidence  that  even  general  undefinable 
tendencies  of  our  being,  upward  or  downward,  are  trans- 
missible ; yes,  even  the  struggles  and  conflicts  in  the  inmost 
hearts  of  the  parents,  though  never  by  them  revealed,  may 
all,  whether  well  or  ill  fought  out,  be  reflected  in  the  child. 

And  it  is  within  the  working  of  these  laws  that  we  find 
intoxicants,  especially  alcohol,  endangering — as  does  almost 
no  other  evil — the  whole  future  of  the  whole  race  of  man ; 
and  to  the  startling  words  of  Flourens,  “ Man  no  longer 
dies,  he  kills  himself,”  we  may  add, — Man  not  only  kills 
himself  ; he  kills  his  offspring  in  the  womb,  and  degrades 
that  heaven-ordained  crucible  of  life  into  a machine  for 
creating  mental  and  moral  and  physical  monstrosities — for 
the  spurious  replenishment  of  the  earth. 


174 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


V ariou8 
authorities 
on  heredity. 

Erasmus 

Darwin. 


Rev.  Edward 
Barry. 


Ih\  Rosch. 


Dr.  Morel# 


§ 53.  The  Trench  historian  Amyot,  and  the  English 
philosopher  Lord  Bacon,  were  probably  the  first  in  modem 
times  to  deal  with  the  question  of  alcoholic  heredity. 

Erasmus  Darwin,  in  his  Botanical  Garden  (1781), 
says,  “It  is  remarkable  that  all  the  diseases  from 
drinking  spirituous  or  fermented  liquors  are  liable  to 
become  hereditary,  even  to  the  third  generation,  gradually 
increasing,  if  the  cause  be  continued,  till  the  family 
becomes  extinct.” 

In  his  j Essay  on  Wedlock  (Reading,  1806)  the  Rev. 
Edward  Barry  says — 

“ It  would  be  as  unreasonable  to  expect  a rich  crop 
from  a barren  soil,  as  that  strong  and  healthy  children 
should  be  born  of  parents  whose  constitutions  have  been 
worn  out  with  intemperance  and  disease.  What  a dreadful 
inheritance  is  the  gout,  the  scurvy,  etc.  ! How  happy 
had  it  been  for  the  heir  of  many  a great  estate  had  he 
been  born  a healthy  beggar  rather  than  to  inherit  his 
father’s  fortunes  at  the  expense  of  inheriting  his  disease  ! 

“ Children  born  of  intemperate  parents  bear  in  their 
birth  the  germs  of  disease,  die  prematurely,  or  drag  along 
a languishing  existence,  useless  to  society,  depraved  and 
possessed  with  evil  instincts.” 

A like  testimony  is  this  of  Dr.  C.  Rosch,  in  his  The 
Abuse  of  Spirituous  Drinks  (Tubingen,  1839)  : 

“ The  children  of  men  and  women  who  are  given  to 
drink  have  always  a weak  constitution,  are  either  delicate 
and  nervous  to  excess,  or  heavy  and  stupid.  In  the  former 
case  they  often  fall  victims  to  convulsions  and  die  suddenly, 
or  become  a prey  to  water  on  the  brain,  and  later  to 
pulmonary  phthisis.  In  the  latter  case  they  are  seized  by 
atrophy,  and  sink  into  imbecility.  In  both  cases  they  are 
exposed  to  all  the  varied  forms  of  scrofula,  rash,  and,  on 
reaching  maturity,  gout.” 

Dr.  B.  A.  Morel,  in  his  treatise  on  the  Degeneration  of 
the  Human  Race  (Paris,  1857),  says  of  alcoholic  heredity, 
“ There  is  no  other  disease  in  which  hereditary  influences 
are  so  fatally  characteristic.  Imbecility  and  idiocy  are 
the  extreme  terms  of  the  degradation  in  the  descendants 
of  drinkers,  but  a great  number  of  intermediary  stages 
develop  themselves,  . . . beyond  the  positive  data  afforded 
by  observation  of  hereditary  influences,  it  is  impossible  for 


HEREDITY. 


17 


ns  to  fortn  a just  idea  of  certain  monstrosities,  physical 
and  moral.  ...  It  is  a law  for  the  preservation  of  the  race, 
which  strikes  alcoholics  with  early  impotence,  and  their 
descendants  are  not  only  intellectually  feeble,  but  this 
degradation  is  joined  with  congenital  impotence.” 

Dr.  Figg  says  (op.  cit.),  “ The  brain  of  the  drinker  s 
child  is  as  often  the  miniature  of  that  of  his  father , as  is  the 
impress  of  his  features.  Education  may  do  much  for  him, 
conscience  and  self-respect  more  ; yet  the  germs  of  those 
vices  which  precipitated  the  parent’s  ruin  will,  in  too  many 
instances,  defy  eradication. 

“ Perhaps  the  largest  class  of  character  is  one  to  which 
no  special  reference  has  hitherto  been  made — a person 
possessing  a mediocrity  of  mental  power,  with  a mind  only 
partially  developed  by  education,  conversing  superficially 
on  a number  of  subjects,  without  thinking  deeply  on  any  ; 
such  character’s  are  admirably  adapted  for  the  routine  of 
mere  commercial  or  artisan  life.  By  constant  drinking, 
however,  even  without  reaching  the  point  of  intoxication, 
such  intellects  may  be  almost  obliterated.  To  them 
reasoning  was  never  habitual,  consequently  the  cerebral 
surface,  under  the  contact  of  alcohol,  is  less  injected  than 
the  base ; hence  the  function  of  the  intellectual  brain  is 
completely  superseded  by  that  of  the  instinctive ; their 
very  few  ideas,  suggested  by  the  society  of  the  public- 
house,  or  the  sentiments  current  round  the  dinner  tables 
on  the  retiring  of  the  ladies,  admit  of  no  variation  or 
argument.  What  wonder  that  they  become  social  non- 
entities, and  assimilated  to  the  beasts  in  their  desire  for 
the  gratification  of  mere  animal  appetites  ! ” 

Dr.  E.  Lanceraux  says,  in  his  article  Alcoholism 
(Diet.  Encycl.  des  Sciences  Med.,  Paris,  1865),  “ The  person 
who  inherits  alcoholism  is  generally  marked  with  degenera- 
tion particularly  manifested  in  disturbances  of  the  nervous 
functions.  As  an  infant  he  dies  of  convulsions  or  other 
nervous  disorders ; if  he  lives,  he  becomes  idiotic  or 
imbecile,  and  in  adult  life  bears  these  special  characteris- 
tics : the  head  is  small  (tendency  to  microcephalism),  his 
physiognomy  vacant,  a nervous  susceptibility  more  or  less 
accentuated,  a state  of  nervousness  bordering  on  hysteria, 
convulsions,  epilepsy,  sad  ideas,  melancholia,  hypochondria, 
— such  are  the  effects,  and  these  with  a passion  for  alcoholic 


Dr.  Figg. 


Dr.  Lance- 
raux. 


176 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr. 

Maudsley. 


Professor 

Jaccoud. 


Dr.  Baer. 


Dr.  Gendron. 


beverages,  an  inclination  to  immorality,  depravity,  and 
cynicism, are  the  sorrowful  inheritance,  which, unfortunately 
a great  number  of  individuals  given  to  drink  bequeath  to 
their  children.” 

Dr.  Maudsley  says  that  such  children  “ come  into  the 
world  without  having  either  the  will  or  the  strength  to 
struggle  against  their  fate ; they  are  step-children  of 
nature,  suffering  under  the  heel  of  tyranny — the  tyranny 
of  poor  constitutions.” 

Prof.  Sigismund  Jaccoud  says,  in  his  Alcoholism  (Patho- 
logic Interne,  Paris,  1877),  “ Of  the  children  of  drinkers, 
some  become  imbeciles  and  idiots ; others  are  feeble  in 
mind,  exhibit  moral  perversion,  and  sink  by  degrees  into 
complete  degradation ; still  others  are  epileptics,  deaf  and 
dumb,  scrofulous,  hydrocephalic,  etc.  ...  A survey  of  the 
race  ieads  us  to  affirm  that  alcoholism  is  one  of  the  greatest 
causes  of  the  depopulation  and  degeneration  of  the 
nations.” 

Dr.  A.  Baer  (in  Alcoholismus,  1878)  calls  attention  to  the 
fact  that  “ tbe  inherited  desire  for  drink  often  remains 
latent,  till  by  severe,  acute,  or  chronic  disease,  or  mental 
excitement,  the  nervous  system  has  become  weakened, 
when  tbe  alcoholic  impulse  leaps  suddenly  into  activity.”  * 

In  his  essay  on  Hereditary  Alcoholism  (Thesis  for  the 
degree  in  medicine,  Paris,  1880),  Dr.  E.  Gendron  says, 
“ The  drinker  is  often  incapable  of  having  living  children. 
If  he  does  have  any,  they  are  driven  to  drinking  just  as 
he  himself,  and,  being  less  robust,  because  degenerated, 
they  cannot  withstand  the  effects,  but  fall  victims  to  all 
the  accidents  of  alcoholism,  united  to  those  they  have 
inherited.  These  are — in  tender  years,  tenable  convulsions 
on  the  least  occasion  ; later,  nervousness  of  hysteria  with 
all  the  train  of  symptoms ; limited  intelligence,  gross 
brutal  character,  and  a spirit  incapable  of  anything  serious 
or  coherent.  The  heir  to  alcoholism  is  querulous,  evil- 
minded,  possessed  with  a desire  to  destroy,  not  capable  of 
receiving  a good  education ; and  his  faults  increase  with 

* The  age  at  which  symptoms  of  hereditary  alcoholism  break  out 
varies.  It  generally  awakes  at  special  periods  of  physiological 
changes  ; such  as  puberty,  illness,  pregnancy,  or  at  the  cessation  of 
the  menstrual  functions.  Sudden  and  great  mental  emotion,  or  even 
chill,  will  sometimes  suffice. 


HEREDITY. 


177 


his  years.  If  born  intelligent,  be  may  lapse  into  idiocy  or 
imbecility ; born  with  infantile  paralysis,  be  may  die  from 
epilepsy;  or,  a hypochondriac,  he  may  become  insane,  and 
end  his  wretched  existence  in  an  asylum  under  the 
delirium  of  imaginary  persecutions ; if,  indeed,  he  has  not 
been  carried  to  the  prisoner’s  dock  for  some  crime  for 
which  he  bore  little  real  responsibility.*  . . . The  conclu- 
sions are  that  alcoholism  is  not  extinguished  with  the 
drinking  individual,  but  is  transmitted  to  his  descendants 
under  various  forms,  namely,  convulsions  in  infancy,  pro- 
duced by  the  most  trivial  causes  ; malformation  of  the 
head  and  microcephalus  ; tendency  to  strong  drink  ; feeble 
general  development ; trembling  especially  of  the  upper 
limbs  ; gastric  troubles  ; epilepsy  ; precocious  perversity 
and  cruelty ; mental  weakness ; idiocy ; tendency  to  in- 
sanity or  mania.” 

In  his  address,  The  Heredity  of  Alcohol,  delivered 
before  the  International  Congress  for  the  Study  of  Alco- 
holism at  Brussels  (August,  1880),  Dr.  Norman  Kerr 
said,  “ Defective  nerve-power  and  an  enfeebled  debilitated 
morale  form  the  favourite  legacy  of  inebriates  to  their 
offspring.  Some  of  the  circle,  generally  the  daughters, 
may  be  nervous  and  hysterical ; others,  generally  the 
sons,  are  apt  to  be  feeble  and  eccentric,  and  to  fall 
into  insanity  when  an  unusual  emergency  takes  place. 
That  the  impairment  of  the  bodily  or  mental  faculties 
arises  from  the  intemperance  of  one  or  both  heads  of  the 
family,  is  demonstrated  by  the  healthfulness  and  intel- 
lectual vigour  of  children  born  while  the  parents  wore 
temperate  contrasted  with  the  sickliness  and  mental 
feebleness  of  their  brothers  and  sisters  born  after  the 
parent  or  parents  became  intemperate.  . . . The  most  dis- 
tressing aspect  of  the  heredity  of  alcohol  is  the  transmitted 
narcotic  or  insatiable  craving  for  drink — the  dipsomania 
of  the  physician — which  is  every  day  becoming  more  and 
more  prevalent.  Probably  the  alarming  increase  of  the 
alcoholic  heredity  in  England  is  owing  in  great  part  to  the 
increase  of  female  intemperance  amongst  us.  It  is  well  to 

* If  a sound  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  heredity  were  a sine  qua 
non  qualification  in  the  law-maker,  might  we  not  hope  that  curative 
measures  would  supersede  the  punitive  and  inaugurate  a nobler  and 
more  effective  moral  code  than  we  have  ever  known  ? 

N 


Pr.  Norman 
Kerr. 


178 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr.  Lewis  D. 
Mason  on 
alcoholic 
insanity. 


Prof.  Kraft- 
Ebing  on 
diseases  of 
alcoholic 
heredity. 


state  that  all  the  evil  resulting  from  hereditary  alcoholism 
may  he  transmitted  by  parents  who  have  never  been  noted  for 
their  drunkenness.  Long-continued  habitual  indulgence  in 
intoxicating  drinks  to  an  extent  far  short  of  intoxication  is 
not  only  sufficient  to  originate  and  hand  down  a morbid 
tendency,  but  is  much  more  likely  to  do  so  than  even  repeated 
(drunken  outbreaks  with  intervals  of  perfect  sobriety  between.” 

The  hereditary  drink-crave  is  thus  described  by  Dr. 
Lewis  D.  Mason  in  his  Alcoholic  Insanity  (Yew  York, 
1883)  : “ It  is  an  irresistible  impulse  that  drives  a person 
to  alcoholic  intoxication  at  stated  or  irregular  periods. 
The  attack  is  preceded  by  a condition  of  melancholia, 
anorexia,  insomnia,  and  general  restlessness.  After  the 
debauch,  or  during  it,  the  special  effect  of  the  alcohol  on 
the  mental  and  physical  condition  becomes  manifest — 
tremor,  hallucinations,  sleeplessness,  coated  tongue,  loss 
of  appetite,  and  other  symptoms  of  gastric  derangement. 
The  ‘ irresistible  impulse  ’ is  the  characteristic  feature  of 
this  special  form  of  monomania.  The  genesis  of  that 
impulse,  and  the  views  of  various  winters  as  to  its 
pathological  origin,  the  province  of  this  paper  will  not 
permit  to  touch. 

“ The  point  to  be  made  here  is  that  the  hallucinations 
and  delusions  are  simply  the  result  of  the  alcoholic 
poisoning. 

“ The  person  again  and  again  yields  to  the  insane 
impulse  until  death,  either  by  some  intercurrent  disease,  or  i 
disease  resulting  from  his  alcoholic  excesses,  relieves  him 
from  his  sad  heritage.” 

Of  the  children  of  parents  who  are  guilty  of  alcoholic 
excesses,*  Prof.  Kraft-Ebing,  in  his  Psychiatrie  (Stutt- 
gart, 1883),  says,  “They  come  into  the  world  as  idiots, 


* One  of  the  laws  of  heredity  of  the  utmost  importance  for 
parents  to  consider  is  that  of  what  I may  call  lacteal  heredity  (see 
chapter  IX.),  i.e.  what  the  child  receives  through  the  medium 
of  the  milk,  whether  the  milk  of  its  mother  or  of  a wet  nurse. 
Virtues,  vices,  physical  characteristics,  and  the  effects  of  habits 
indulged  in  during  lactation  can  be  transmitted  to  the  child.  Thus, 
even  if  the  child  be  well-born  to  start  with,  it  may  acquire  physical 
diseases  through  the  milk  of  a foster-mother. 

The  Pall  Mall  Gazette  for  August,  1883,  tells  the  following 
interesting  anecdote  bearing  on  this  point : — 

“ The  extent  to  which  the  character  of  an  animal  can  be  changed 


HEREDITY. 


179 


with  hydrocephalous  or  neurotic-convulsive  constitutions  ; 
and  perish  in  early  years  of  convulsions.  In  those  who 
survive,  epilepsy,  hysteria,  mental  diseases,  and  weakness, 
and  exactly  the  severest  forms  of  mental  impairment  are 
developed  out  of  the  morbid  constitution  of  the  nerve- 
centres  ; ” and  he  gives  the  following  terrible  scheme  as 
to  how  nature  disposes  of  generations  springing  from 
drunkards  : — 

“ 1st  Generation. — Moral  depravity,  alcoholic  excess. 

“ 2nd  Generation. — Drink  mania,  attacks  of  insanity, 
general  paralysis. 

“ 3rd  Generation. — Hypochondria,  melancholia,  apathy, 
and  tendencies  to  murder. 

“4th  Generation. — Imbecility,  idiocy,  and  extinction  of 
family.” 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  even  the  transmission  of  such 
loathsome  diseases  as  scrofula,  tuberculosis,  or  syphilis  is 
neither  so  certain  nor  so  permanent  and  blasting  in  effects 
as  those  transmitted  by  alcoholism.  Moreover,  these 
terrible  diseases  are  in  some  degree  susceptible  of  remedy, 
and  are  localized.  But  the  heredity  from  alcoholism  is 
chronic,  and  profoundly  attacks  the  whole  being. 

Were  the  transmission  absolute,  that  is,  were  there  no 

by  the  way  in  which  it  is  brought  up  has  seldom  been  more  re- 
markably illustrated  than  in  the  case  of  a sheep,  which  at  present 
is  said  by  the  Kokstaad  Advertizer  to  be  a great  pet  of  the  magistrate 
at  Matabiele,  in  South  Africa.  This  sheep,  when  a lamb,  left  the 
flock,  attached  itself  to  a Mr.  Watson,  who  gave  it  to  be  suckled  by 
his  bitch  ‘ Beauty,’  a bitch  well  known  here,  and  was  well  taken 
care  of  by  her.  When  the  lamb  grew  older  it  was  noticed  that  it 
would  never  sleep  in  any  house  but  Mr.  Watson’s,  and  would  some- 
times lie  outside  the  door  cuddled  up  like  a watch-dog.  The  most 
wonderful  thing  about  him  is  that  as  soon  as  the  hotel  bell  rings  for 
dinner  he  is  sure  to  be  standing  by  one  of  the  chairs  at  the  top  end 
of  the  table,  and  when  the  owner  sits  down  he  will  jump  with  his 
front  paws  on  his  back,  letting  him  know  that  he  wants  something 
to  eat,  like  a dog.  He  will  not  touch  grass  or  eat  beef,  but  will 
gladly  eat  mutton,  soap,  candles,  and  drink  coffee  and  tea  with 
sugar  and  milk.  But  “ Schaap’s  ” great  love  is  for  draught  beer. 
He  will  lift  the  can  up  with  his  front  paws  and  hold  it  to  his  mouth, 
and  drink  with  such  a relish  that  it  can  at  once  be  seen  he  has  been 
led  away  by  bad  example.  ‘ Schaap  ’ is  a fine  ram,  clean  fleece, 
with  very  wicked  eyes.  All  day  he  is  seen  running  about  with  the 
dogs  as  one  of  them,  until  the  bell  rings,  then  off  he  scampers  to  the 
dining-room.” 


180 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


laws  mightier  for  the  preservation  of  man  than  those  he 
violates  and  turns  into  engines  of  destruction,  the  race 
might  ere  this  have  been  extinguished.  But  the  children 
of  drinking  parents  who  escape  the  curse  are  the  excep- 
tions, and  the  escape  is  seldom,  if  ever,  a complete  one. 
Either  the  mind,  the  body,  or  the  character,  in  some  bent, 
formation,  or  trait,  betrays  the  taint. 

Selfish  and  irresponsible  conduct  of  life  minus  drink 
may,  and  probably  sometimes  does,  produce  a similar 
heredity ; yet  it  remains  true  that  those  who  are  neither 
alcoholics  themselves,  nor  the  victims  of  alcoholic  parentage, 
are  in  the  comparison  seldom  sufficiently  blinded  to  the 
meaning  and  duties  of  life,  to  waste  their  physical,  moral, 
and  mental  resources,  and  then  either  heedlessly  or 
deliberately  inflict  the  consequences  on  their  offspring. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


THERAPEUTICS;  OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 

§ 54.  As  alcohol  (the  distilled  product)  originated  in  the 
chemists’  and  physicians’  laboratories,  thence  gradually 
spread  to  the  homes  of  the  favoured  ones  in  life,  and  then 
descended  step  by  step  the  grades  of  social  life,  until  its 
use  in  drink  by  civilized  man  has  driven  pure  water  almost 
out  of  the  list  of  beverages ; so  now  there  are  signs  that 
it  is  retreating  to  the  laboratory,  like  the  Afreet  to  his 
bottle  in  the  Arabian  Nights.  And  let  us  hope  that  when 
alcohol  is  once  driven  back  to  its  starting-place,  man  will 
be  wise  enough  to  seal  up  the  monster  for  ever. 

The  first  medical  treatise  on  the  uses  of  alcohol  was 
one  entitled  Ueber  den  Gebrauch  und  Nutzen  des  Brannt- 
weins  (Concerning  the  Use  and  Utility  of  Brandy),  written 
by  Dr.  Michel  Schrick,  in  1483. 

During  the  next  hundred  years  after  this  date  much 
and  various  consideration  was  given  to  the  subject,  and 
more  or  less  clear  opinions  were  formed  as  to  the  effect 
of  alcohol  on  man ; and  by  examining  some  of  the  views 
entertained  by  “ Theoricus,”  a prominent  German  of  the 
sixteenth  century — i.e.,  about  midway  between  the  time 
of  its  practical  discovery  and  our  age,  and  when  it  had 
spread  over  the  whole  of  Europe — we  may  be  better  able 
to  appreciate  the  changes  which  medical  opinion  has 
undergone  between  then  and  now. 

In  the  Hollinshed  Chronicles  (1577),  “Theoricus” 
describes  the  properties  of  alcohol  in  these  words  : — “ It 
sloweth  age,  it  strengthened  youth,  it  helpeth  digestion, 
it  cutteth  phlegme,  it  abandoned  melancholie,  it  relished 
the  heart,  it  lighteneth  the  mind,  it  quickened  the  spirits, 


A sixteenth- 
century 
opinion  of 
alcohol. 
“Theoricus.” 


182 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr.  Norman 
Kerr  on 
medical 
history  of  the 
temperance 
movement. 


it  cureth  tlie  hydropsia,  it  healeth  the  strangurie,  it 
pounces  the  stone,  it  expelleth  gravel,  it  puffeth  away 
ventositie ; it  keepeth  and  preserveth  the  head  from  whirl  - 
ing,  the  eyes  from  dazzling,  the  tong  from  lisping,  the 
mouth  from  snaffling,  the  teeth  from  chattering,  and  the 
throat  from  rattling ; it  keepeth  the  weasen  from  stiffling, 
the  stomach  from  wambling,  and  the  heart  from  swelling ; 
it  keepeth  the  hands  from  shivering,  the  sinews  from 
shrinking,  the  veins  from  crumbling,  the  bones  from 
aching,  and  the  marrow  from  soaking.” 

As  we  have  seen,  these  diseases,  with  scores  of  kindred 
afflictions,  are  precisely  the  fruits  which  the  use  of  alcohol 
bears  in  the  organism  of  man,  and  it  would  seem  as  if 
“ Theoricus  ” must  have  been  both  a wag  and  a physician. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  principal  testimonies 
and  opinions,  marking  the  progress  of  medical  thought 
against  the  indiscriminate  use  of  alcohol  in  modem  times. 

§ 55.  At  the  Crystal  Palace  Jubilee  Conference 
(September,  1879),  an  essay  on  the  Medical  History  of  the 
Temperance  Movement  was  read  by  Dr.  Norman  Kerr. 
“ At  no  stage  in  the  onward  progress  of  the  temperance 
movement,”  said  Dr.  Kerr,  “ have  representatives  of  the 
medical  profession  ever  been  wanting.  In  the  early  or 
moderation  stage,  when  the  advocacy  of  temperance 
reformers  was  confined  to  abstinence  from  ardent  spirits, 
a numerous  company  of  kEsculapians  was  invaluably  in 
the  van. 

“ Leaving  out  of  the  reckoning  altogether  the  many 
unstinted  commendations  of  temperance  by  the  early 
fathers  of  the  healing  art,  while  united  temperance  effort 
was  yet  in  the  womb  of  time,  from  the  ranks  of  the  noble 
profession  of  medicine  emanated  graphic  expositions  of 
the  physical,  mental,  and  moral  dangers  accompanying 
even  limited  alcoholic  indulgence. 

“In  1725  Dr.  George  Cheyne*  had  issued  a second 
edition  of  his  first  work,  in  which  he  commends  total 

* “ Neither  were  they  ever  designed  by  Nature  and  its  Author  for 
the  animal  body  as  nourishment  or  common  drink,  and  scarce  deserve 
a place  in  the  apothecary’s  shop ; spirits  having  made  more  havock 
among  mankind  by  far  than  even  gunpowder.” — Natural  Method  of 
curing  Diseases  of  the  Body  and  Disorders  of  the  Mind,  by  Dr.  George 
Cheyne  (London,  17L2). 


THEEAPEUTICS ; OE,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


183 


abstinence  as  the  most  natural,  healthy,  and  safe  mode  of 
living,  and  condemns  moderate  drinking  as  unhealthy 
and  dangerous. 

“In  1747  Dr.  James  wrote,  ‘Every  person  who  drinks 
a dram  seems  to  me  guilty  of  a greater  indiscretion  than 
if  he  had  set  fire  to  a house ; and  for  the  same  reasons 
cordial  waters  are  the  most  dangerous  furniture  for  a 
closet.’  Again,  ‘I  cannot  forbear  admiring  the  great 
wisdom  of  Mohammed,  who  strictly  forbade  his  followers 
the  use  of  fermented  liquors  for  better  reasons  than  are 
generally  apprehended.’ 

“ Dr.  Erasmus  Darwin,  author  of  The  Botanic  Garden 
(London,  1794),  calls  wine  ‘a  pernicious  luxury  in  common 
use,  and  injuring  thousands.’ 

“ In  1802  Beddoes  pointed  out  the  many  dangers 
attendant  on  the  social  and  medical  use  of  intoxicating 
drinks,  dwelling  on  the  ‘ mischief  from  wine  taken  con- 
stantly in  moderate  quantity,’  and  emphasizing  ‘ The 
enfeebling  power  of  small  portions  of  wine,  regularly 
drunk.’ 

“ Dr.  Trotter,  two  years  later,  denounces  beer  as  a 
‘ poisonous  morning  beverage,’  says  ‘ wines  strengthen 
neither  body  nor  mind ; ’ and  thus  writes,  ‘ When  wine 
was  first  introduced  into  Great  Britain  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  it  was  confined  to  the  shop  of  the  apothecary.’ 

“ Writing  to  Dr.  Joshua  Harvey,  in  1829,  Dr.  John 
Cheyne,  Physician- General  to  the  Forces  in  Ireland,  in  a 
letter  published  in  Dublin,  contends  that  the  medical 
profession  ‘ ought  to  make  every  retribution  in  their 
power  for  having  so  long  upheld  one  of  the  most  fatal 
delusions  which  ever  took  possession  of  the  human  mind.’ 

“Mr.  Higginbottom  was  probably  an  abstainer  many 
years  before  the  birth  of  the  movement,  and  had  abandoned 
the  prescription  of  alcohol  as  early  as  1832.” 

In  a letter  to  a friend,  written  in  1836,  Dr.  Higgin- 
bottom * says,  “ I consider  I shall  do  more  in  curing  disease 

* John  Higginbottom,  F.E.S.,  of  Nottingham,  was  a keen  and 
able  clinical  practitioner,  who  wrote  several  classical  papers  on 
practical  medicine.  His  far-seeing  and  courageous  stand  against  the 
medical  prescription  of  alcohol  branded  him  as  a maniac,  and 
ostracized  him  from  practice  among  the  higher  classes  of  society. 
Another  man  of  like  conscience  and  courage  was  Mr.  James  Hawkins, 


Dr.  Higgin- 
bottom on 
the  advan- 


184 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


tapes  of  pre- 
scribing total 
abstinence. 


Dr.  Kerr  in 
continuation. 


First  medical 
Declaration 
of  1839, 
drawn  up  by 
Dr.  Julius 
Jeffreys. 


and  preventing  disease  in  one  year  by  prescribing  total 
abstinence,  than  1 could  do  in  the  ordinary  course  of  an 
extensive  practice  of  a hundred  years.  I have  already  seen 
diseases  cured  by  total  abstinence  that  would  not  have  been 
cured  by  any  other  means.  If  all  stimulating  drinks  and 
tobacco  were  banished  from  the  earth,  it  would  he  a real 
blessing  to  society,  and  in  a few  weeks  they  would  never 
be  missed,  not  even  as  a medicine .”  * 

Dr.  Kerr  continues,  in  his  Crystal  Palace  essay,  “ The 
three  well-known  Declarations  concerning  alcohol  merit 
special  mention.  The  first  was  drawn  by  Mr.  Julius 
Jeffreys  in  1839,  and  was  signed  by  Sir  B.  Brodie,  Sir 
James  Clarke,  Sir  J.  Eyre,  Dr.  Marshall  Hall,  Dr.  A.  T. 
Thompson,  Dr.  A.  Ure,  the  Queen’s  physicians ; Professor 
Partridge,  Professor  Quain,  Mr.  Travers,  Mr.  Bransby 
Cooper,  and  seventy-eight  leaders  in  medicine  and  surgery. 
This  document  declared  the  opinion  to  be  erroneous  that 
wine,  beer,  or  spirit  was  beneficial  to  health  ; that  man  in 
ordinary  health  required  no  such  stimulant,  and  could  not 
be  benefited  by  the  habitual  employment  of  such  in  either 
large  or  small  quantities  ; that,  even  in  the  most  moderate 
doses,  alcoholic  drinks  did  no  good,  while  large  quantities 
(such  as  by  many  would  be  thought  moderate)  sooner  or 
later  proved  injurious  to  the  human  constitution,  without 
any  exceptions.” 

The  Declaration  drawn  up  by  Dr.  Julius  Jeffreys, f here 
alluded  to,  contained  the  following  paragraphs  : — 

“ An  opinion  handed  down  from  rude  and  ignorant 
times,  and  imbibed  by  Englishmen  from  their  youth,  has 
become  very  general,  that  the  habitual  use  of  some  portion 
of  alcoholic  drink — as  of  wine,  beer,  or  spirit — is  beneficial 
to  health,  and  even  necessary  for  those  subjected  to 
habitual  labour. 

of  36,  Cold  Place,  Commercial  Road,  formerly  a staff  assistant 
surgeon  at  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  Like  Dr.  Higginbottom,  he  was 
an  "earnest  and  consistent  abstainer,  and  at  the  same  cost  to  his 
practice.  Some  valuable  papers  were  contributed  by  him  to  the 
Temperance  Intelligencer  for  1840 ; and  he  had  the  firmness  and 
sincerity  to  describe  himself  in  the  Medical  Directory  as  “ Teetotal 
since  1837.” 

* From  Anti-Bacchus,  by  the  Rev.  B.  Parsons  (London,  1S39).  The 
italics  are  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Parsons. 

f See  Dr.  Grindrod’s  Bacchus  (1839). 


THERAPEUTICS;  OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


185 


“Anatomy,  physiology,  and  the  experience  of  all  ages 
and  countries,  when  properly  examined,  must  satisfy  every 
mind  well  informed  in  medical  science  that  the  above 
opinion  is  altogether  erroneous.  Man  in  ordinary  health, 
like  other  animals,  requires  not  any  such  stimulants,  and 
cannot  be  benefited  by  the  habitual  employment  of  any 
quantity  of  them,  large  or  small ; nor  will  their  use  during 
his  lifetime  increase  the  aggregate  amount  of  his  labour. 
In  whatever  quantity  they  are  employed,  they  rather  tend 
to  diminish  it. 

“ When  he  is  in  a state  of  temporary  debility  from 
illness,  or  other  causes,  a temporary  use  of  them  as  of 
other  stimulant  medicines  may  be  desirable ; but  as  soon 
as  he  is  raised  to  his  natural  standard  of  health,  a con- 
tinuance of  their  use  can  do  no  good  to  him,  even  in  the 
most  moderate  quantities,  while  larger  quantities  (yet 
such  as  by  many  persons  are  thought  moderate)  do,  sooner 
or  later,  prove  injurious  to  the  human  constitution  without 
any  exceptions.”  * 

“The  second  Declaration,”  continues  Dr.  Kerr,  “was 
originated,  and  the  many  signatures  published,  by  Mr. 
John  Dunlop  in  1847.  More  than  two  thousand  of  the  most 
eminent  physicians  and  surgeons  signed  this,  including 
Sir  R.  Brodie,  Sir  J.  Clarke,  Sir  W.  Burnett,  Sir  J.  Forbes, 
Sir  H.  Holland,  Sir  A.  Munro,  Sir  J.  McGrigor,  Sir  R. 
Christison,  Dr.  W.  B.  Carpenter,  Dr.  Copland,  Dr.  Uiell 
Arnott,  Dr.  A.  Farre,  Professors  Guy,  Allen,  Thomson, 
Miller,  McLeod,  Easton,  Anderson,  McFarlane,  Rainey, 
Buchanan,  Paris,  Winslow,  Alison,  Syme,  Henderson, 
Lawrie,  McKenzie,  R.  D.  Thomson,  Couper,  and  Simpson. 
This  certificate  set  forth  that  perfect  health  is  compatible 
with  total  abstinence  from  all  intoxicating  beverages  ; that 
all  such  drinks  can,  with  perfect  safety,  be  discontinued 
either  suddenly  or  gradually ; and  that  total  and  universal 
abstinence  from  alcoholic  liquors  and  intoxicating  beverages 
of  all  sorts  would  greatly  contribute  to  the  health,  the 
prosperity,  the  morality,  and  the  happiness  of  the  human 
race. 

“The  third  Declaration,  which  was  prepared  by  Pro- 

* The  Rev.  B.  Parsons  (cp.  cit.)  says,  “ To  their  honour  it  may  be 
told  that  five  thousand  medical  men  in  America  have  come  forward 
and  given  their  testimony  against  alcoholic  drinks.” 


Second 
medical 
Declaration 
by  Mr.  John 
Dunlop  in 
1847. 


The  third 


186 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


medical 
Declaration 
by  Professor 
Parkes  in 
1871. 


Establish- 
ment of  the 
Quarterly 
Medical 
Temperance 
Journal , 
1869. 


The  British 

Medical 

Journal 

concerning 

alcohol  as  a 

medicine 

(1871). 


fessor  Parkes,  on  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Ernest  Hart  and 
Mr.  Robert  Rae,  in  1871,  was  signed  by  269  leading 
members  of  the  hospital  staffs.  Among  those  signing 
were  Sir  George  Burrows,  Sir  Thomas  Watson,  Sir  H. 
Holland,  Sir  William  Eergusson,  Sir  James  Paget,  Sir 
Ranald  Martin,  Sir  Henry  Thompson,  Sir  Duncan  Gibb, 
and  Sir  James  Bardsley.” 

The  modem  scientific  temperance  movement  of  England 
may  be  said  to  have  commenced  with  the  publication  of 
Dr.  P.  R.  Lees’  Is  Alcohol  a Medicine  ? (1866),  and  to  have 
taken  full  shape  with  the  establishment  of  the  Quarterly 
Medical  Temperance  Journal  (1869),  at  the  instance  of  Mr. 
Robert  Rae,  secretary  of  the  Rational  Temperance  League. 
In  this  quarterly  will  be  found  fairly  reproduced  almost 
all  the  best  medical  literature  of  the  subject  that  has 
appeared  since  1869.  The  intelligent  advocacy  of  true 
temperance  in  this  journal  called  forth  both  rejoinders 
and  support  in  the  medical  press  of  Great  Britain  and 
other  countries,  and  finally  the  British  Medical  Journal, 
the  powerful  organ  of  eleven  thousand  British  physicians, 
invited  an  investigation  of  the  drank  question.  On  the 
30th  of  September,  1871,  the  British  Medical  Journal 
said — 

“ Looking  to  the  ineffable  misery  and  disaster,  the 
waste,  degradation,  suffering,  and  crime  which  are  con- 
stantly wrought  in  this  and  most  civilized  nations  by 
drink,  we  are  far  from  thinking  the  importance  of  the 
subject  can  be  exaggerated.  . . . The  influence  of  medical 
men,  if  they  were  united  and  agreed,  might  be  all-powerful 
on  this  subject ; and  we  should  be  glad  to  see  a conference 
of  medical  men,  including  those  of  the  highest  class, 
originated  in  some  really  influential  quarters,  with  a view 
to  giving  this  subject  a more  thorough  discussion  than  it 
has  yet  had.  We  should  like  to  hear  a discussion  in  which 
Parkes,  Edward  Smith,  Hughes  Bennett,  A.  P.  Stewart, 
Paget,  Jenner,  and  some  of  our  leading  provincial 
practitioners,  would  take  part,  in  which  the  whole  subject 
should  be  probed.  To  what  extent,  if  at  all,  are  physicians 
justified  in  recognizing  alcohol  as  an  article  of  daily  food 
in  health?  Does  the  habit  of  prescribing  alcoholic  drinks 
act  injuriously  upon  the  morals  and  welfare  of  the  people  ? 


THERAPEUTICS;  OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


187 


Is  it  possible  or  desirable  to  substitute  the  more  enticing 
forms  of  alcohol  by  medicinally  and  less  alluring  forms  ? 
We  all  of  us  sympathize  with  the  ends  which  the  National 
Temperance  League  has  in  view.  A small  minority  only 
practically  participate  in  their  means  of  action.  Can  we 
in  any  way,  and  in  what  way,  help  to  excuse  this  nation 
from  the  curses  which  drink  brings  upon  its  population  ? ” 

This  was  followed  by  the  strong  appeal  of  Dr.  A.  H.  H. 
McMurtry,  of  Belfast,  in  an  article  On  the  Duty  of  Medical 
Men  in  Relation  to  the  Temperance  Movement  ( Medical 
Temperance  Journal , October,  1871). 

“ The  ignorance  of  the  people,”  says  Dr.  McMurtry, 
“ encouraged  as  it  has  been  by  the  attitude  of  the  medical 
profession  towards  the  temperance  movement,  with  regard 
to  the  nature,  properties,  and  real  value  of  alcoholic  drinks, 
has  constituted  hitherto  an  almost  impregnable  barrier  to 
the  progress  of  truth  on  this  subject.  . . . Medical  practice, 
and  medical  teaching,  and  perhaps  medical  science  on  the 
subject  altogether,  have  begotten  and  fostered  the  popular 
belief  that  alcohol  is  one  of  the  good  creatures  of  God. 
The  medical  profession  is  responsible  for  the  originating 
and  perpetuating  of  the  great  mistake  that  alcohol  is  a 
wholesome  thing.  . . . The  people’s  medical  advisers 
either  teach,  by  precept  and  example,  that  they  are  not 
injurious,  or  manifest  an  indifference  to  the  evils  produced 
by  their  use,  which  implies  that  they  do  not  think  them 
injurious.  It  matters  little  whether  it  is  what  they  teach 
or  what  they  do  not  teach  that  is  the  cause  of  the  popular 
belief  and  popular  custom  ; for  medical  men  are  just  as 
culpable  if  they  do  not  dispel  this  error,  as  if  they  actually 
and  directly  taught  it.  They  are  just  as  responsible  for 
its  consequences,  because  it  is  their  special  province  and 
privilege  to  diffuse  that  light  and  knowledge  which  alone 
could  prevent  them.  For  to  whom  can  the  temperance 
movement  look,  to  whom  should  it  look,  for  aid  in  exposing 
this  pernicious  falsehood  but  to  the  medical  profession  ? 
To  whom  else  should  a community  suffering  from  the 
physical  consequences  of  a physical  poison  appeal,  not 
only  for  their  cure,  but  for  their  prevention  ? . . . Apart 
from  the  absolute  duty  of  every  man  to  abstain  from  the 
unnecessary  use  of  a poison,  it  is  pre-eminently  the  duty 
of  medical  men,  who  are  naturally  and  justly  considered 


Dr.  McMur- 
try’s  elo- 
quent appeal 
to  the 
medical 
profession 
(. Medical 
Temperance 
Journal , Oct. 
1871). 


188 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


guides  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  preservation  of  health,  to 
see  that  the  powerful  influence  of  their  example  is  on  the 
side  of  virtue  and  sobriety.  Their  superior  knowledge  of 
the  poisonous  nature  of  alcohol  implies  a greater  obligation 
to  abstain  from  it ; but  it  is  their  stronger  and  wider 
influence  which,  in  an  especial  manner,  lays  them  under 
a deeper  responsibility  to  set  the  people  a safe  example  in 
this  matter,  and  incurs  upon  them  a deeper  guilt  if  their 
example  leads  the  people  astray.  . . . Hence  I maintain 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  medical  men  either  (1)  to  discard 
alcohol  altogether  on  the  strength  of  the  verdict  which  a 
large  proportion  of  the  profession — not  to  mention  com- 
petent judges  outside  the  profession — have  pronounced 
against  it ; or  else  (2)  to  examine  the  matter  for  themselves 
with  an  earnest  and  sincere  desire  to  know  the  truth, 
considering  the  incalculable  evils  which  so  many  truthful, 
unprejudiced,  and  thoroughly  qualified  men  attribute  solely 
to  the  common  and  medicinal  use  of  alcohol  (such  use 
being  founded  on  false  notions  of  the  nature  and  real 
value  of  the  drink),  I hold  that  it  is  the  bounden  duty  of 
all  who  are  in  any  degree  responsible  for  this  use  of  it,  to 
give  the  whole  subject  that  honest  and  attentive  consider- 
ation which  its  importance  demands.  This  would  be  a 
more  philosophic,  honourable,  and  philanthropic  course  to 
pursue  than  that  so  often  adopted  by  medical  men,  of 
refusing  either  to  study  the  question  for  themselves  or  to 
be  instructed  by  those  who  have  studied  it.  I should  have 
thought  that,  if  no  other  or  higher  consideration  were 
sufficient,  the  honour  of  their  profession  would  he  enough 
to  arouse  them  to  defend  it  from  the  serious  charge  of 
contributing,  either  knowingly  or  in  wilful  ignorance,  to 
the  misexies  of  the  human  race. 

“ But  suppose  that,  after  having  given  the  subject  the 
necessary  investigation,  they  still  believe  that  alcohol  is  an 
indispensable  article  of  the  ‘ Materia  Medica,’  what  then  ? 
What  if  some  medical  men  have  actually  done  so,  and  have 
been  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  alcohol  is  a useful  food 
and  a necessary  medicine  ? Then  I tell  them  that  it  is 
their  duty  (3)  to  choose  the  lesser  of  two  evils.  Presciibe 
alcohol,  either  dietetically  or  medicinally,  and  you  frequently 
create  or  resuscitate,  and  always  run  a risk  of  creating  or 
resuscitating,  supposing  the  patient  survives,  an  uncon- 


THERAPEUTICS;  OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE.  189 

trollable  and  ultimately  fatal  appetite  for  intoxicating 
drink.  Thus  in  your  desire  to  cure  one  disease,  which 
many  believe  could  be  cured  more  certainly  and  more 
safely  by  other  means,  you  administer  a remedy  which 
may  and  often  does  produce  another  disease  of  a much 
more  serious  character,  inasmuch  as  it  involves  not  only 
physical  but  moral  injury  to  the  patient,  and  untold  misery 
to  his  friends.  You  also  give  rise  to,  and  confirm,  that 
widespread  faith  in  the  necessity  for  and  remedial  powers 
of  alcoholic  liquors,  which  I have  said  is  at  the  very  basis 
of  the  drinking  customs,  and  is  the  remote  origin  of  the 
traffic  itself  and  all  its  evils.  For  while  I do  not  say  that 
all  who  drink  do  so  because  they  tbink  the  drink  is  good  for 
them,  I do  say  that  all  begin  to  drink  ignorant  of  the  fact, 
and  because  they  are  ignorant  of  the  fact,  that  alcohol  is 
inherently  and  essentially  bad  for  them.  And  this  igno- 

I ranee  is  the  result  of  the  prescription  and  recommendation 
by  medical  men  of  the  various  intoxicating  productions  of 
the  brewer  and  the  distiller.  And  remember  that  the 
advocates  of  alcohol  can  claim  no  especial  advantages  for 
the  alcoholic  treatment  which  are  not  also  claimed  to  a 
superior  degree  for  the  non-alcoholic  treatment,  by  those 
who  have  expunged  this  agent  from  their  list  of  remedies 
altogether.” 

Stirred  to  the  quick  by  these  earnest  words,  Mr.  Robert  Ongmofthe 
Rae,  the  secretary  of  the  National  Temperance  League,  medicaintlSh 
consulted  with  Mr.  Ernest  Hart,  editor  of  the  British  Declaration. 
Medical  Journal , who  advised  that  the  counsel  of  Prof. 

Parkes,  of  the  Army  Medical  School,  Netley,  and  other 
prominent  medical  men,  should  be  sought  with  reference 
to  the  practicability  of  such  a conference  as  had  been 
suggested  in  the  British  Medical  Journal.  Dr.  Parkes 
questioned  the  utility  of  a conference,  and  recommended 
a Declaration  instead.  Mr.  Rae  urgently  requested  that 
he  would  draft  such  a Declaration  as  the  profession  in 
general  would  be  prepared  to  sign.  This  was  done,  when 
Mr.  Rae  submitted  it  without  delay  to  Dr.  Burrows, 

Sir  Thomas  Watson,  Sir  James  Paget,  and  Mr.  Busk, 
each  of  whom  suggested  a few  alterations,  which  were 
at  once  adopted.  These  four  physicians  then  sigmed 
the  Declaration ; after  which  it  was  presented,  at  Dr. 

Burrows’  suggestion,  ‘ to  some  of  the  senior  and  most 


190 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Opinion  of 
the  Times 
as  to  the  im- 
portance of 
the  third 
medical 
Declaration. 


The  Lancet. 


The  Pall 
Mall  Gazette. 


distinguished  members  of  the  medical  profession  in  London  ’ 
for  signature.” 


The  Declaration,  after  being  signed  by  two  hundred 
and  sixty-nine  leading  members  of  the  medical  profession, 
was  printed  with  its  full  list  of  signatures  in  the  Times 
(January  1,  1872),  which,  in  commenting  on  it  three  days 
later,  said : — 

“ It  is  very  seldom  that  a great  social  question  such 
as  that  of  the  limits  between  a wholesome  and  safe  use 
of  alcohol  on  the  one  hand,  and  injurious  excess  on  the 
other,  evokes  such  a body  of  witnesses  as  that  subscribed 
to  the  medical  protest  in  our  columns.  It  is  impossible 
not  to  attach  very  great  value  to  the  deliberate  opinion 
of  those  who  must  know  a good  deal  of  the  subject,  and 
who  are  not  generally  given  to  exaggeration.  . . . That 
two  hundred  and  fifty  medical  men,  including  the  most 
distinguished  names  in  the  profession,  should  have  agreed 
to  a manifesto  against  the  excessive  and  incautious  adminis- 
tration of  alcohol,  has  taken  the  world  rather  by  surprise, 
as  revealing  a certain  unsuspected  background  of  actual 
knowledge  and  unanimity.  Of  course  there  are  protests 
and  dissents,  but  they  do  not  come  to  much.  . . . This 
famous  document,  whether  it  he  read  with  implicit  agree- 
ment or  with  criticism,  is  certain  to  call  attention  to  the 
history  and  actual  results  of  alcoholic  stimulants  wherever 
there  are  eyes  to  see,  and  reason  to  understand.” 

“ This  list  of  names  is  veiy  representative,”  says  the 
Lancet  (December  23, 1871).  “It  is,  indeed,  so  inclusive  that 
a few  honoured  names  which  are  absent  are  conspicuous  by 
their  absence.*  It  is  so  comprehensive  that  one  is  sur- 
prised to  miss  a particular  name  that  seems  necessary  to 
give  complete  authority  to  the  document.” 

And  this  from  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  has  no  uncertain 
sound — 

“ Although  there  are  those  who  express  indignation  at 

* Apropros  of  these  remarks  by  the  Lancet,  it  is  hat  fair  to  recollect 
that,  with  the  exception  of  the  names  of  Sir  William  Gull  and  Sir 
William  Jenner,  it  can  hardly  be  said  that  any  conspicuous  medical 
name  is  absent  from  this  Declaration,  and  these  two  physicians  were 
at  that  time  at  Sandringham,  attending  upon  the  Prince  of  Wales  in 
his  critical  illness. 


THERAPEUTICS;  OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


191 


the  assumption  that  alcohol  is  ever  prescribed  inconsider- 
ately in  large  quantities,  or  that  sufficient  care  is  not 
always  taken  to  cut  it  off  at  the  right  moment  and  to 
arrest  subsequent  habits  of  induced  tippling,  there  are  too 
many  well-known  examples  of  habitual  evil  induced  by 
medical  prescription  to  make  us  hesitate  to  accept  the 
Declaration  in  its  every  word  and  in  all  its  meanings.” 

The  Declaration  read  as  follows  : — 

“ As  it  is  believed  that  the  inconsiderate  prescription 
of  large  quantities  of  alcoholic  liquids  by  medical  men  for 
their  patients  has  given  rise,  in  many  instances,  to  the 
formation  of  intemperate  habits,  the  undersigned,  while 
unable  to  abandon  the  use  of  alcohol  in  the  treatment  of 
certain  cases  of  disease,  are  yet  of  opinion  that  no  medical 
practitioner  should  prescribe  it  without  a sense  of  grave 
responsibility.  They  believe  that  alcohol,  in  whatever 
form,  should  be  prescribed  with  as  much  care  as  any 
powerful  drug,  and  that  the  directions  for  its  use  should 
be  so  framed  as  not  to  be  interpreted  as  a sanction  for 
excess,  or  necessarily  for  the  continuance  of  its  use  when 
the  occasion  is  past. 

“ They  are  also  of  opinion  that  many  people  immensely 
exaggerate  the  value  of  alcohol  as  an  article  of  diet,  and 
since  no  class  of  men  see  so  much  of  its  ill  effects,  and 
possess  such  power  to  restrain  its  abuse,  as  members  of 
their  own  profession,  they  hold  that  every  medical 
practitioner  is  bound  to  exert  his  utmost  influence  to 
inculcate  habits  of  great  moderation  in  the  use  of  alcoholic 
liquids. 

“ Being  also  firmly  convinced  that  the  great  amount  of 
drinking  of  alcoholic  liquors  among  the  working  classes  of 
this  country  is  one  of  the  greatest  evils  of  the  day,  destroy- 
ing— more  than  anything  else — the  health,  happiness,  and 
welfare  of  those  classes,  and  neutralizing,  to  a large  extent, 
the  great  industrial  prosperity  which  Providence  has 
placed  within  the  reach  of  this  nation,  the  undersigned 
would  gladly  support  any  wise  legislation  which  would 
tend  to  restrict,  within  proper  limits,  the  use  of  alcoholic 
beverages,  and  gradually  introduce  habits  of  temperance.” 

Though  couched  in  terms  less  complete  and  uncom- 
promising than  some  desired,  this  document  was  yet  “ far 
in  advance  of  social  sentiment  and  popular  practice,”  and 


The  wording 
of  the  third 
medical 
Declaration. 


General  im- 
pression pro- 
duced on  the 
public  mind 


192 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


by  the  publi- 
cation of  it. 


Medical 
opinions 
evoked  by 
the  publica- 
tion of  the 
third  Decla- 
ration. 

Dr.  Henry 
Munroe. 


it  raised  such  a storm  of  discussion  within  the  medical 
profession,  and  led  to  such  controversy  in  the  daily  press,  as 
made  it  famous  almost  ere  the  ink  of  it  was  dry,  and  the 
animated  dispute  of  which  it  was  the  nucleus  did  not 
subside  until  some  of  the  keenest  intellects,  ripest  ex- 
perience, and,  fortunately,  some  of  the  noblest  consciences 
in  and  outside  the  medical  profession,  had  wheeled  into 
line  and  spoken  words  which  advanced  the  whole  temper- 
ance reform  movement  in  the  hearts  and  conviction  of  the 
people,  as  almost  nothing  else  could  have  done.* 

In  the  great  medical  meeting  in  Exeter  Hall  (January 
30,  1872),  Dr.  Henry  Munroe,  of  Hull,  said- — 

“ Forty  years  ago  we  used  to  bleed — or  rather,  I should 
say,  ‘ phlebotomize  ’ — every  one.  I have  sat  at  the  table  of 
a hospital  forty  years  ago,  and  when  I have  seen  prescribed 

* At  about  this  time  there  were  revivals  of  the  temperance 
movement  in  other  countries. 

Some  six  hundred  of  the  physicians  of  Holland  issued  this 
medical  Declaration,  even  more  stringent  than  the  English  one  : — 

“1.  The  moderate  use  of  strong  drinks  is  always  unhealthy,  even 
when  the  body  is  in  healthy  condition.  It  does  not  do  any  good  to 
the  digestion,  but  even  interferes  with  that  process ; for  strong 
drinks  can  only  temporarily  increase  the  feeling  of  hunger,  but  not 
in  favour  of  digestion,  after  which  strong  reaction  must  follow,  and 
evils  which  are  usually  attributed  to  other  causes,  but  often  result 
from  the  habitual  use  with  moderate  drinkers. 

“ 2.  The  assertions  that  intoxicating  drinks  used  moderately  are 
naturally  innocent  means  of  cheering  up — that  they  are  useful  in 
severe  colds — or  that  they  are  with  labouring  men  equivalents  for 
insufficient  nourishment — or  useful  in  misty  and  humid  air — or  for 
people  obliged  to  work  in  the  water — or  a protection  against  con- 
tagious diseases — are  without  any  foundation,  and  contradictory  to 
experience  and  to  human  reason ; and  the  habitual  use  of  the  same 
has  therefore  an  unhealthy  effect,  and  an  influence  unlike  what 
people  expect  from  them. 

“ 3.  The  habitual  use  of  strong  drinks  works  most  perniciously 
on  all  diseases,  and  especially  on  consumption. 

“ 4.  Eegarded  as  the  usual  drink  of  all  classes,  they  are  not  only 
improper  on  account  of  the  above  reasons,  but  also  against  moral 
development  and  material  prosperity,  in  such  measure  as  to  be  con- 
sidered and  to  be  stamped  as  the  greatest  undei'miners  of  the  actual 
welfare  of  mankind.” 

In  1872  America  manifested  her  sympathy  with  the  movement, 
and  in  May  of  that  year,  at  the  twenty-third  annual  meeting  of  the 
American  Medical  Association — about  one  thousand  members  being 
present — a resolution  to  discourage  the  use  of  alcohol  in  medical 
practice  was  unanimously  carried. 


THERAPEUTICS;  OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


193 


‘blue  pill  at  night,  ancl  black  draught  in  the  morning,’  I 
have  known  what  was  going  to  be  the  next  question.  The 
next  question  would  be,  ‘ Have  you  any  pain  anywhere  ? ’ 
And  woe  to  the  patient  if  he  said  he  had,  or  if  even  he 
thought  he  had.  The  next  line  would  be  certain  to  be 
Venesectio  ad  uncias  duodecim  (‘bleeding  to  twelve  ounces  ’) . 
I have  seen  that  repeated  a dozen  times  in  one  morning 
when  I was  a pupil,  upon  all  sorts  of  persons,  of  all  ages, 
of  all  sizes,  and  of  both  sexes.  A reaction  took  place  in 
the  profession.  We  gave  up  the  lancet,  as  we  found  that 
people  living  in  cities  and  towns  were  not  always  labouring 
under  inflammatory  diseases.  What  we  are  labouring- 
under  now  is  debility.  Everything  is  debility  now.  We 
went  to  the  other  extreme — therefore  brandy  became  the 
elixir  vitce,  the  sole  panacea  for  all  the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir 
to.  If  a man  were  in  collapse,  brandy  relieved  him ; if  in 
the  agony  of  colic,  why,  brandy  revived  him ; if  life  was 
burning  out  in  fever,  brandy  cooled  him ; and  if  he  was 
starved  to  death,  why,  brandy  warmed  him.  In  fact, 
brandy  was  the  pet  drug  of  the  Pharmacopoeia.  Every- 
thing else  dwindled  into  obscurity.  I will  give  you  some 
of  my  reasons  for  discontinuing  the  treatment  of  disease 
with  alcohol.  I don’t  like  to  talk  of  myself,  but  I can  tell 
you  that  I have  had  twenty  attacks  of  gout  during  the  last 
twenty  years ; if  that  doesn’t  make  a man  wiser  I don’t 
know  what  will.  During  the  first  ten  years  of  this  period 
I had  sixteen  attacks  lasting  from  seven  days  to  four 
weeks ; but  during  the  last  ten  years,  since  I abandoned 
the  use  of  alcoholic  liquors  in  any  shape  whatever,  I have 
only  had  four  attacks,  two  of  them  through  accidents,  and 
the  other  two  very  mild,  lasting  only  a few  days.  I have 
tried  brandy  and  water,  I have  tried  beer,  and  I have  tried 
wine,  and  the  whole  category  of  such  things,  and  I have 
ascertained  how  much  of  each  of  them  it  will  take  to 
induce  an  attack,  and  I have  published  these  experiments 
in  the  Medical  Journal  and  need  not  repeat  them  to-night. 
I determined  to  discontinue  the  use  of  such  liquors,  and 
have  been  much  more  successful  in  practice  ever  since. 
I ceased  also  to  order  any  more  for  my  patients,  and  they 
are  better  too.  In  Hull,  in  the  year  1849,  we  had  the 
cholera  very  bad  indeed.  It  ravaged  amidst  us  fearfully. 
Above  two  thousand  persons  were  buried  in  our-  cemetery, 

o 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


victims  of  this  disease.  I saw  at  least  one  hundred  persons 
a day  in  that  dreadful  disease,  and  most  of  those  who  died 
were  from  thirty  to  forty  years  of  age.  We  tried  the 
brandy-and-opium  treatment,  and  that  was  a failure. 
Altogether  we  lost  somewhere  about  forty  or  fifty  per  cent, 
of  the  persons  attacked  by  the  stimulant  treatment  and 
with  opium.  One  medical  man  thought  that  the  opium 
with  the  brandy  was  not  strong  enough  (something  like 
Mr.  Skey),  so  he  ordered  that  very  strong  doses  of  cam- 
phine  mixture  should  he  administered,  and  he  pledged 
his  reputation  that  this  would  cure  any  case  of  cholera, 
hut  I believe  it  was  a failure.  The  cholera,  took  off 
nearly  all  the  drunkards.  People  whom  I have  seen 
intoxicated  at  my  surgery  in  the  morning  were  dead  the 
same  night,  and  buried  the  next  morning.  It  was  a 
fearful  thing.  J remember  six  cases  of  persons  who  were 
so  obstinate  as  to  refuse  to  take  any  doctors’  stuff  or  brandy. 
I wrapped  them  up  in  blankets  sprinkled  with  turpentine 
and  left  them.  Four  out  of  that  six  are  walking  about 
now.  They  recovered,  but  we  lost  fifty  per  cent,  of  the 
others.  Turning  to  fever — I have  tried  alcohol  in  fever, 
and  I have  treated  fever  without  alcohol ; and  my  ex- 
perience is  that  we  lose  five  per  cent,  in  treating  cases  of 
fever  without  alcohol , and  twenty -five  per  cent,  with  alcohol. 
It  is  the  experience  of  workhouses  and  hospitals  that  one 
patient  in  ten  of  those  treated  with  brandy  for  fever  died  ; 
but  of  those  treated  without  brandy  only  one  death  in  thirty 
cases  occurred.  I have  treated  many  cases  of  delirium 
tremens,  and  I have  given  alcoholic  liquors  heroically,  but 
had  many  deaths  during  that  treatment ; but  when  the 
patients  were  isolated  and  cut  off  from  all  spirits  and  liquors, 
I have  never  lost  a case.  It  is  a rare  thing  to  lose  a man 
under  such  treatment.  In  regard  to  haemorrhage  and 
violent  floodings,  I remember  a case  of  this  kind  in  which 
I had  to  sit  up  the  whole  night  to  give  brandy,  and 
religiously  gave  it  to  the  lady,  and  I have  gone  home  in 
the  morning  with  the  reflection,  ‘ What  a wise  provision  it 
is  that  we  have  such  an  excellent  thing  as  brandy  always 
at  hand ! ’ I tried  the  case  next  time  without  brandy, 
and  the  lady  sooner  got  better,  and  there  was  no  secondary 
fever,  and  her  remark  was,  ‘ I shall  never  try  brandy 
again.’  I could  go  on  multiplying  these  illustrations,  but 


THERAPEUTICS;  OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


195 


I must  not  tire  you.  With  regard  to  the  indiscriminate 
use  of  alcohol,  this  ‘ Declaration  ’ says,  it  is  ‘ believed  ’ it 
has  a tendency  to  promote  the  formation  of  habits  of 
intemperance.  It  seems  singular,  but  I believe  it  to  be 
true,  and  it  is  a great  sorrow  to  me  now  to  think  of,  that 
for  twenty  years  I made  many  families  unhappy.  I believe 
I have  made  many  drunkards,  not  knowingly,  not  pur- 
posely, but  I recommended  them  to  chink.  It  makes  my 
heart  ache,  even  now,  to  see  the  mischief  that  I have  made 
in  years  gone  by,  mischief  never  to  he  remedied  by  any  act  of 
mine.  But  in  this  respect  at  least  I do  not  sin  now,  and 
have  not  done  so  for  the  last  ten  years.  I do  not  take 
intoxicating  drink  myself,  and  I do  not  have  it  in  my 
house,  and  I do  not  give  it  to  anybody  else.” 

Dr.  J.  J.  Ritchie,  of  Leek,  said  (in  the  same  meeting), 
“ In  my  practice  I have  given  no  stimulants  in  fever  for 
years.  I have  never,  so  far  as  I remember,  for  ten  or 
twelve  years,  lost  a single  patient  from  typhoid  fever,  and 
never  given  a single  drop  of  stimulant  therein.” 

The  venerable  Dr.  Jno.  Higginbottom,  of  Nottingham, 
in  a letter  to  the  Tunes,  dated  January  12,  1872,  referring 
to  this  Declaration,  said — 

“ I was  educated  in  the  opinion  that  alcohol  was  abso- 
lutely necessary  in  the  treatment  of  disease,  and  for  the 
first  twenty  years  of  my  practice  I gave  it  to  my  patients, 
but  for  the  last  forty  I have  discontinued  it  altogether,  not 
having  once  prescribed  it  as  a medicine.  As  early  as  1813 
I discontinued  port  wine  in  typhus  fever  (the  term  typhoid 
was  not  come  into  use  as  a distinction  at  that  early 
period) , afterwards  in  English  cholera,  uterine  haemorrhage, 
delirium  tremens,  and  in  cases  of  exhaustion  and  sinking. 
In  the  year  1827  I had  lost  all  confidence  in  alcohol  as  a 
medicine,  from  a conviction  of  its  inefficiency,  and  also 
from  its  very  dangerous  qualities.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
enter  into  the  details  of  my  practice,  as  I have  given  them 
to  my  medical  brethren  in  the  Lancet  and  British  Medical 
Journal.  In  August,  1862,  I had  a paper  read  before  the 
British  Medical  Association,  in  London,  on  the  non-alcoholic 
treatment  of  disease. 

“The  result  of  my  non-alcoholic  treatment  is,  that 
acute  disease  is  much  more  readily  cured,  and  chronic 
disease  more  manageable.  I have  not  known  of  any 


Dr.  J.  J. 
Ritchie. 


Dr.  Higgin- 
bottom. 


196 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


patients  having  been  injured  by  my  disuse  of  alcohol.  It 
is  equally  successful  in  surgical  as  in  medical  practice. 
No  person  can  form  any  idea  of  the  superiority  of  the 
practice  of  medicine  and  surgery  when  alcohol  is  removed 
from  it.  It  is  the  complete  emancipation  from  the  slavery 
of  alcohol,  and  the  practitioner  has  a freedom  he  never 
before  experienced.” 

The  important  initiative,  energizing,  and  effectuating 
part  taken  by  Mr.  Robert  Rae  in  getting  this  Declaration 
before  the  public  is  eloquently  testified  to  in  the  address  * 

* “ To  Robert  Rae,  Esq.,  Secretary  to  the  National  Temperance 
League. 

“ Dear  Sir, — With  feelings  of  very  great  pleasure  we  welcome  you, 
in  the  name  of  the  Council  of  the  British  Medical  Temperance  Associa- 
tion, on  your  return  to  the  shores  of  old  England. 

“ We  do  this  all  the  more  heartily  and  appropriately  because  you 
have  always  taken  such  a deep  interest  in  the  medical  aspect  of  the 
great  temperance  reform,  and  because,  by  your  intelligent  efforts, 
the  medical  profession  has  been  largely  influenced  in  favour  of  total 
abstinence. 

“It  was  at  your  initiative  that  the  important  medical  Declaration 
of  1871  was  set  on  foot,  and  chiefly  through  your  tact  and  perse- 
verance that  it  was  carried  to  a successful  issue.  From  that  time  we 
may  date  a new  departure  in  the  medical  treatment  of  the  question, 
by  which  it  received  a mighty  impetus. 

“ The  very  useful  and  encouraging  series  of  breakfast  meetings 
given  annually  to  the  members  of  the  British  Medical  Association 
bear  testimony  to  your  untiring  efforts  and  organizing  skill. 

“ By  your  energy  those  great  meetings  held  in  the  large  hall 
above,  and  addressed  by  medical  men,  were  carried  to  a successful 
issue,  and  exercised  a marked  convincing,  converting,  and  confirm- 
ing influence. 

“ To  you  we  are  indebted  for  the  establishment  and  able  conduct 
of  the  valued  Medical  Temperance  Journal ; and,  lastly,  our  Associa- 
tion itself  is  under  a deep  debt  of  gratitude  to  you  for  your  kind 
co-operation  from  the  period  of  its  origin  to  the  present  time. 

“ 1 There  are  good  works  that  are  evident,’  and  such  are  vonr 
labours  in  the  temperance  cause.  We  rejoice  to  see  you  again  among 
us,  refreshed  in  body  and  mind,  and  trust  that  yon  may  be  spared  to 
see  more  abundantly  the  certain  fruit  of  all  your  efforts  to  dispel  the 
pernicious  ignorance  respecting  the  action  and  tendency  of  alcohol 
still  so  prevalent  among  all  classes  of  society. 

(Signed)  “Benjamin  Ward  Richardson,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  F.R.S., 

“ President. 

“ John  James  Ridge,  M.D.,  B.S.,  B.A.,  B.Sc.Lond., 

“Eon.  Sec. 

“ Lower  Room,  Exeter  Hall, 

20th  October,  1881.” 


THERAPEUTICS;  OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


197 


which  was  presented  to  him  by  the  Medical  Temperance 
Association — convened  in  Exeter  Hall  (October,  1881) — in 
grateful  acknowledgment  of  his  vital  and  continual  services 
in  temperance  reform. 

§ 56.  The  publication  of  the  third  British  medical 
Declaration  was  the  initiative  of  a marked  departure  in 
medical  practice. 

Dr.  Charles  Hare,  president  of  the  Metropolitan  Branch 
of  the  British  Medical  Association,  in  an  article  in  the 
British  Medical  Journal  (July  28,  1883)  states — 

“ I well  remember  the  time  (twenty  to  twenty-five 
years  ago)  when  alcohol-giving  was  so  rampant  that  it 
was  difficult  to  see  a patient  who  had  been  a few  hours  in 
the  hospital  before  the  time  of  one’s  visit,  who  had  not 
already  been  put,  almost  as  a matter  of  course,  by  the 
physicians  or  clinical  assistant,  on  three  or  four  ounces  of 
brandy,  or  on  double  that  amount  of  wine ; and  because 
I would  not  give  way  to  that  alcohol-craze,  and  ventured 
to  show  that  many  serious  diseases  might  be  cured  with 
the  administration  of  little  or  no  alcohol,  I was  considered 
(I  well  remember)  the  most  unorthodox  of  teachers,  if  not 
something  worse  than  that.  Rapid  was  the  increase  in 
the  use  of  alcohol  between  the  years  1852  and  1862,  and 
indeed,  in  many  cases,  up  to  the  year  1872 ; and  you 
cannot  fail  to  trace  therein  the  great  influence  of  the 
teachings  and  writings  of  Dr.  Todd,  and  especially  of  his 
views  on  the  Treatment  of  Acute  Diseases.  Thanks  to  the 
careful,  prudent,  and  honest  energy  of  Dr.  Parkes,*  a 
change  of  practice  occurred,  the  consumption  of  alcohol 
diminished  so  much  as  to  show  in  1882  a most  remarkable 
reduction  in  the  cost  of  wine  and  spirits  in  all  the  hospitals 
(except  St.  George’s)  from  which  I have  received  returns. 

* The  verdict  of  Dr.  Parkes  on  the  nse  of  alcohol  as  a medicine  is 
too  thorough  and  conclusive  not  to  be  included  here  also  : — 

“ If  spirits  neither  give  strength  to  the  body  nor  sustain  it  against 
disease — are  not  protective  against  cold  and  wet,  and  aggravate 
rather  than  mitigate  the  effects  of  heat — if  their  use,  even  in  modera- 
tion, increases  crime,  injures  discipline,  and  impairs  hope  and  cheer- 
fulness ; if  the  severest  trials  of  war  have  been  not  merely  borne,  but 
easily  borne,  most  easily  borne  without  them  ; if  there  is  no  evidence 
that  they  are  protective  against  malaria  or  other  diseases,  then  I 
conceive  the  medical  officer  will  not  be  justified  in  sanctioning  their 
issue  under  any  circumstances.” 


l)r.  Charles 
Hare  on  the 
decline  in 
the  use  of 
alcohol  as  a 
medicine. 


198 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Former  and 
present 
opinions  on 
the  use  of 
alcohol  as  a 
medicine. 


Thus  (without  making  corrections  for  the  somewhat  in- 
creasing number  of  beds),  the  cost  of  wine  and  spirits 
consumed  every  tenth  year,  from  1852  to  1882,  at  Guy’s, 
was  £496,  £1231,  £1446,  and  £953 ; at  Middlesex,  £215, 
£550,  £413,  and  £353;  at  Westminster,  £208,  £432,  £367, 
and  £137. 

“ On  the  other  hand,  the  use  of  milk  has  most  rapidly 
increased  in  every  hospital  without  exception,  and  has 
replaced  — I believe  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the 
patients — the  alcohol  in  the  treatment  of  disease.  The 
quantity  consumed  in  1852  at  St.  Bartholomew’s  cost 
£684,  and  in  1882,  £2012 ; at  Guy’s,  £236  and  £1488 
respectively;  at  the  London  Hospital,  £426  and  £2427; 
and  so  on.” 

§ 57.  But  although  alcohol  has  thus  rapidly  lost  ground, 
and  many  physicians  of  repute  have  dispensed  with  it 
altogether,  it  is  still  considered  and  used  as  a great 
therapeutic  agent.  Even  those  who  use  it  most,  however, 
feel  called  upon  to  give  reasons  for  their  faith ; they  must 
tell  how,  when,  and  why  they  employ  it.  Formerly 
alcoholic  prescriptions  constituted  an  important  and  com- 
plicated chapter  in  therapeutics,  owing  to  both  professional 
and  public  ignorance  of  the  nature  of  alcohol,  together 
with  the  acceptability  of  the  medicine  to  the  patient,  and 
the  convenience  of  the  prescription  to  the  physician.  Then 
it  was  considered  to  be  of  the  utmost  importance  what 
kind  of  wine,  spirits,  or  malt  liquors  were  prescribed,  a pre- 
caution now  seen  to  have  been  largely  based  on  ignorance. 
Investigation  has  proved  that  in  all  alcoholic  liquors  the 
alcoholic  ingredient  is  essentially  the  same,  viz.,  ethyl- 
alcohol.  The  other  ingredients,  such  as  various  acids  and 
salts,  odoriferous  and  flavouring  ethers  in  minute  quanti- 
ties, and  small  portions  of  undecomposed  albuminous 
particles,  are  not  the  ingredients  for  which  alcoholic  drinks 
are  prescribed.  If  these  are  wanted,  chemistry  can  furnish 
them  w'ithout  the  alcohol ; moreover,  they  exist  in  alcoholic 
drinks  in  a proportion  so  minute,  that  excepting  for  a small 
acceleration  or  retardation  of  digestion — largely  dependent 
upon  the  proportion  of  salts — medical  science  has  not  found 
any  exact  therapeutic  differences  in  their  uses.  But, 
allowing  that  the  most  distinct  differences  had  been  proved 
to  exist,  owing  to  the  variety  of  liquors  used,  it  still 


THERAPEUTICS;  OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


199 


remains  an  incontestable  fact  that,  even  though  mysterious 
seeds  of  health  inhered  in  special  liquor  prescriptions,  the 
ripened  science  of  liquor  adulteration  and  its  universal 
practice  make  it  absolutely  impossible  for  a physician  to 
safely  prescribe  wines  or  spirits,  or  malt  liquors,  unless  he 
can  personally  supply  the  same,  after  having  first  ascer- 
tained that  they  contain  exactly  what  is  required. 

Hence,  any  medical  man  who,  in  prescribing  alcohol, 
does  not  prescribe  it  as  alcohol,  i.e.,  so  many  drops,  drachms, 
or  ounces  to  so  much  water,  is  a quack.  He  orders  a 
thing  of  which  he  cannot  prescribe  the  effects.* 

While  considering  this  point  of  alcoholic  prescription  it 
is  proper  to  state  that  it  is  the  physician’s  duty  when  pre- 
scribing alcohol,  just  as  much  as  when  prescribing  any 
other  “ powerful  drug,”  to  use  scientific  language  in  the 
prescription  ; to  disguise  the  taste  of  it  in  a compound  pre- 
paration, and  to  label  it  as  what  it  is — -jpoison.  It  seems 
also  proper  to  mention  in  this  connection  that  ethyl-alcohol, 
though  a most  excellent  chemical  solvent,  can,  in  most  cases, 
be  replaced  by  glycerine,  or  if  ethyl-alcohol  must  be  used,  it 
can  be  sufficiently  disguised — -without  hurting  its  solving 
powers — to  prevent  its  being  tempting. f 

Therapeutically,  J alcohol  is  prescribed  for  both  external 

* As  a rule,  medical  men  know  no  more  of  the  value  of  wine  as  a 
medicinal  agent  than  anybody  else.  ...  A glass  of  sherry  is  their 
universal  panacea  for  want  of  tone  in  the  system ; but  sherry  may 
mean  anything  but  the  thing  it  is  really  called. — The  Times,  Sept., 
1865. 

f Even  granting  all  that  its  most  enthusiastic  defenders  claim  for 
alcohol  as  a medicine,  and  even  if  the  use  of  alcohol  were  confined  to 
the  prescription  of  the  physician,  the  medical  profession  are  surely 
justified  in  discontinuing  its  use  on  the  ground  of  its  proven  dangerous 
power  to  become  master  of  body  and  mind. 

As  it  is — when,  instead  of  being  confined  to  the  doctor’s  dose,  the 
habit  of  alcoholic  drink  is  a universal  one,  and  when  doctors  them- 
selves are  deprecating  its  use,  and  lamenting  over  its  fearful  results, 
its  medical  defenders  can  hardly  escape  the  imputation  of  mere 
pecuniary  self-interest ; knowing  as  they  do  that  alcoholic  drinks 
have  produced  innumerable  drunkards. 

J A German  work  on  Therapeutics  (Hamburg,  1883),  by  the  well- 
known  Dr.  Hamack,  furnishes  a discriminating  scheme  for  the  use  of 
alcohol  as  a medicine,  which  is  accepted  by  a large  and  eminent 
portion  of  German  physicians. 

The  digest  of  his  scheme  is  as  follows  : — 


Some  points 

regarding 

alcoholic 

prescriptions 

and  their 

preparations. 


The  principal 
therapeutic 
uses  of 
alcohol. 


200 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


As  a stimu- 
lant. 


and  internal  use.  Externally,  principally  as  a caustic,  its 
use  is,  of  course,  less  injurious.  It  has  been  found  a most 
efficient  means  of  destroying  vei'min  in  the  hair,  to  be  a 
good  lotion  for  irritable  ulcers,  and  to  have  a cooling 
effect  when  applied  immediately  to  wounds  made  by  ampu- 
tation. 

Internally  it  is  used  in  manifold  ways  : — 

1.  As  a stimulant. 

2.  As  a narcotic. 

3.  As  an  antispasmodic. 

4.  As  an  antiseptic  and  antipyretic. 

That  alcohol  never  is  a stimulant,  was  clearly  shown  in 
chapter  v.,  and  therefore,  when  used  as  a stimulant,  it 
must  of  course  be  wrongly  used. 

It  is  a narcotic,  and,  like  most  narcotics,  when  taken  in 
small  doses,  it  is  a pseudo-stimulant.  The  system  dislikes 
and  resists  being  put  in  chains,  as  much  as  a man  would  do  ; 
if  the  chains  are  too  heavy,  as  in  the  case  of  a large  dose  of 
narcotics,  the  system  must  temporarily  submit,  the  struggle 
being  useless ; but  when  the  fetters  are  comparatively 
light,  it  at  once  musters  its  reserve  forces  to  throw  them 
off.  And  this  activity,  together  with  the  feelings  of  relief 
(the  nerves  having  been  dulled  in  the  very  attack),  are 

1.  Calefacientia  (heat-makers),  or  means  for  transforming  living 
force  into  heat ; or  economization  of  the  heat  already  generated. 
Among  these  he  counts  turpentines,  camphors,  ammonia,  etc.,  but 
not  alcohol. 

2.  Antipyretica  (fever-allayers). — Among  which  quinine,  veratrin, 
carbonic  acid,  and  alcohol. 

3.  Excitantia  (nerve-irritants). — Here  we  find  alcohol  first  in  the 
list,  then  camphors,  ethers,  oils,  etc. 

4.  Intoxicants. — -Ethers  and  alcohols. 

5.  Arwssthetica  (temporary  nerve-benumbers). — Chloroform,  ether, 
but  not  alcohol. 

6.  Hypnotica  (sleep-givers). — Opium,  morphia,  herba,  cannabis, 
not  alcohol. 

V.  Anodynes  (pain-soothers).- — Opium,  morphia,  chloral,  not 
alcohol. 

8.  Sedatives  (nerve-quieters). — Opium,  chloral,  not  alcohol. 

9.  Tetanica  (motor-stimulants). — Strychnia,  not  alcohol. 

10.  Tonics  (strength-givers) . — Quinine,  iron,  strychnia,  not  alcohol. 

11.  Anti-Spasmodics  (cramp-quellers). — -Chloral,  chloroform, 
morphia,  opium,  belladonna,  hyoscyamus,  etc.,  not  alcohol. 

Thus  he  Emits  alcohol  as  a medicine  to  its  uses  in  allaying  fevers, 
and  as  a nerve-irritant  and  intoxicant. 


THERAPEUTICS;  OK,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


201 


misunderstood,  are  supposed  to  be  benefits,  when  in  reality 
they  are  signs  of  paralysis,  and  the  results  of  the  system’s 
struggle  to  defeat  its  foe. 

In  cases  where  an  artificial  stimulant  is  useful,  Dr. 
Symes  Thompson  recommends  the  following  prescription : — 
“Quassia  chips,  a quarter  of  an  ounce;  cold  water,  a pint. 
After  standing  for  half  an  hour,  strain;  the  infusion  is 
then  ready  for  use,  and  may  be  taken,  a wineglass ful  at  a 
time,  alone,  or  mixed  with  a teaspoonful  or  two  of  ‘ malt 
extract.’  ” 

Considered  in  its  true  character,  as  a narcotic,  the 
power  of  alcohol  to  deaden  pain  * is  unquestionable.  In 
colic,  for  instance,  a draught  of  hot  water  with  alcohol  no 
doubt  relieves  the  pain,  but  it  accomplishes  this  by 
deadening  the  nerves.  It  provokes  a more  copious  flow  of 
the  gastric  juice,  with  the  immediate  effect  of  facilitating 
the  interrupted  digestion.  Still,  we  have  even  Drs.  Todd 
and  Bowman’s  word,  in  their  Physiological  Anatomy  (vol.  ii. 
p.  210),  that  alcohol  “ retards  digestion  by  coagulating  the 
pepsine,  and  thus  interfering  with  its  action ,”  so  that  the 
supposed  good  is  largely  neutralized. 

If  the  hot  water,  instead  of  being  mixed  with  alcohol, 
is  flavoured  with  peppermint,  ginger,  etc.,  the  water  will 
dilute  the  irritating  contents  of  the  stomach  ; the  heat  of 
the  draught  will  soothe  the  irritated  nerves,  and  the  ginger, 
peppermint,  and  other  carminatives  will  aid  the  muscular 
wall  of  the  intestines  to  expel  the  gas  and  irritating 
contents. 

If  this  does  not  suffice,  an  emetic  to  free  the  stomach 
from  irritating  ingesta,  a purgative  to  clear  the  intestines 
of  crude  or  irritating  substances,  and  a corrective,  such  as 
simple  chalk  mixture,  to  neutralize  soured  and  fermenting 
foods,  will  effectually  assist  Nature  without  injuring  her. 

In  obstetric  cases,  dosing  with  alcohol  is  often  resorted 
to  for  lessening  the  suffering  with  which  child-birth  is 
attended  ; and  upon  the  field  of  battle,  when  chloroform 
or  ether  are  not  at  hand,  a large  dose  of  alcohol  may 

* The  question  whether  there  is  not  a conversion  of  the  expression 
of  wrong,  from  that  of  pain  into  something  of  corresponding  harm- 
: fulness  to  the  system  (though  not  in  the  same  way  observable),  as 
there  is  in  the  conversion  of  the  natural  forces  of  motion  into  heat, 
etc.,  may  not  be  unworthy  of  the  consideration  of  scientists. 


As  a 
narcotic. 


202 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


As  an  anti- 
spasmodic. 


Dr.  Edmunds 
on  this  point. 


As  an  anti- 
septic and 
antipyretic. 


prove  an  efficient  anaesthetic  for  a patient  during  an 
amputation . 

As  a narcotic  alcohol  is  an  arrester  of  vital  action,  and 
primarily  of  nerve  sensibility ; and  this  effect  can  certainly 
be  obtained  by  means  of  ether,  chloroform,  opium,  and 
other  well-known  drugs. 

As  an  antispasmodic,  alcohol  may,  because  of  its  narcotic 
action,  be  at  times  found  useful  when  other  means  are  not 
at  hand. 

In  Alcohol  as  a Medicine  (Manchester,  1867),  Dr.  James 
Edmunds  says,  “ In  the  case  of  a child  cutting  its  teeth, 
there  is  a nervous  irritation  which  throws  the  whole  body 
out  of  gear,  and  the  respiratory  muscles  become  locked,  as 
it  were,  by  the  violence  of  the  spasm  of  an  attack  of  con- 
vulsions. Here  the  patient  may  be  killed  by  momentary 
suffocation,  through  the  very  energy  with  which  certain 
parts  of  the  body  act,  just  as  a machine  may  become 
‘ locked,’  and  in  order  to  put  it  right  you  have  to  turn  the 
steam  off.  Under  such  circumstances  alcohol  sometimes 
proves  useful  as  a paralyzer  and  blunter  of  those  extreme 
sensibilities  which  evoke  convulsive  attacks.” 

In  cases  of  emergency,  such  as  laryngismus  (spasmodic 
croup)  or  convulsions,  a small  dose  of  spirit  may  be  used 
with  good  effect ; but  such  cases  are  exceptional,  and  should 
be  in  the  charge  of  skilled  physicians.  Certainly  in  all 
ordinary  cases  of  “ spasm,”  “ flatulency,”  etc.,  the  draught 
of  hot  water  flavoured  with  ginger,  peppermint,  etc.,  or,  at 
times,  with  a teaspoonful  of  sal-volatile,  is  a safer  and 
better  remedy. 

The  use  of  alcohol  internally  as  an  antiseptic  and 
antipyretic  has  been  its  best  and  longest  defended  strong- 
hold, garrisoned  still  by  discriminating  physicians. 

I will  treat  of  these  two  uses  in  connection,  as  they  are 
often  combined. 

As  we  saw  in  chapter  v.,  alcohol  has  the  general 
effect  on  the  system  of  congesting  the  blood  in  the  utter- 
most capillaries,  whose  contractive  power's  it  paralyzes. 
The  blood,  charged  with  alcohol,  goes  to  and  remains 
especially  in  that  vast  area  of  minute  blood-vessels  which 
penetrate  the  most  delicate  parts  of  the  organism,  the  very 
parts  most  endangered  by  the  ravages  of  exhausting  fevers, 
and  as  alcohol  is  so  powerful  an  antiseptic,  it  has  been 


THERAPEUTICS;  OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


203 


deemed  a most  useful  agent  in  arresting  the  waste  of 
fevers. 

Even  were  it  so,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  in  this  very- 
antiseptic  process,  i.e.,  in  the  tendency  of  the  albumen  to 
coagulate  and  the  retarding  of  the  transformation  of  the 
hydro-carbons,  alcohol  does  a vast  amount  of  harm ; it 
impoverishes  and  degenerates  the  blood  by  depleting  the 
blood-corpuscles  and  by  occupying,  poisoning,  and  wasting 
the  water  in  the  blood  and  tissues  ; the  degree  of  harm 
done,  as  well  as  the  extent  of  tissue-preservation,  being 
equally  dependent  upon  the  quantity  and  the  degree  of 
saturation  of  the  alcohol  used. 

Anri  in  addition  to  all  this  is  the  extra  labour  de- 
manded of  the  entire  machinery  of  the  body  in  order  to 
expel  alcohol  and  minimize  the  injuries  done  by  it.  Then 
there  is  always  the  danger  that  the  use  of  alcohol  as  a 
medicine  will  lead  to  the  evil  habit  of  using  it  as  a 
beverage. 

In  the  measure  that  alcohol  preserves  sick  tissues 
from  dangerously  rapid  waste,  must  it  check  the  natural 
processes  of  nutrition,  and  at  the  same  time  compel  the 
whole  system  to  muster  its  last  forces  to  cope,  not  with 
its  disease,  but  with  its  arch-foe  alcohol. 

Dr.  Solomon  C.  Smith,  in  a paper  upon  Antiseptic  In- 
halations ( British  Medical  Journal,  February  23,  1884),  says 
of  antiseptics,  “ The  term  antiseptic,  in  fact,  presupposes  the 
existence  of  some  such  septic  processes  as  we  now  know  to 
be  caused  by  bacterial  growth.  It  has  long  been  thought 
possible,  by  inhalations  of  creasote,  to  limit  decomposition  in 
the  expectoration ; but,  now  that  the  investigations  of  many 
observers  have  shown  the  constant  presence  of  certain 
bacteria  in  phthisical  disease,  the  hope  is  that  not  only  may 
antiseptic  inhalations  control  septic  processes  in  dead 
secretions,  but  that  they  may  be  destructive  to  those 
micro-organisms  which  are  at  the  root  of  tubercular  disease 
in  living  structures.  To  kill  bacteria  is  one  thing,  to  kill 
germs  is  quite  another.  It  has  been  proved  that  they  can 
stand  a short  boiling,  that  they  can  be  floated  in  air- 
bubbles  through  strong  vitriol,  that  they  can  be  washed 
with  carbolic  solution  of  any  strength  short  of  five  per 
cent.,  without  being  killed,  or  losing  their  power  of  self- 
multiplication. Is  it  likely,  then,  that  any  vapour  which 


Dr.  s.  c. 

Smith  on 
the  compara- 
tive worth- 
lessness of 
antiseptics. 


204 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


could  possibly  be  inhaled  would  be  capable  of  destroying 
organisms  which  are  so  retentive  of  their  vitality?  I 
think  it  is  quite  obvious  that  all  evidence  shows  that  it  is 
impossible,  either  to  keep  genus  out  of  the  body,  or  by 
antiseptics  to  kill  them.  What  else,  then,  can  inhalations 
do  ? ” 

Notwithstanding  earnest  protests  against  the  use  of 
alcohol  in  typhus  and  in  typhoid  fevers,  it  has  been  a 
general  practice.  Now  that  it  begins  to  look  as  if  alcohol 
should  be  routed  even  from  this  stronghold,  a glance  at 
some  of  the  landmarks  in  this  struggle  is  interesting. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Hancock,  of  London,  in  his  Febrifugum 
water-treat1-  At&gnum  (1720),  exalts  the  use  of  water  in  fevers,  and  his  ! 
ment  in  ideas  are  further  elaborated  by  Dr.  Robert  Jackson,  in  his  j 
Exposition  of  the  Practice  of  Aff using  Cold  Water  on  the  \ 
Surface  of  the  Body , as  a Remedy  for  the  Cure  of  Fever 
(Edinburgh,  1808). 

Dr.  Billing  Dr.  Billing,  who  introduced  clinical  lectures,  spoke 
treatment,  in  strongly  t°  the  point  in  his  First  Principles  (1839),  in  these 
typhus  fever.  W Ol’ds  : — 

“ In  typhus  we  should  avoid  stimulants  as  much  as 
possible , inasmuch  as  the  nervous  centres  being  in  a state 
of  congestion,  neither  they  nor  other  organs  have  their 
power  increased  by  them  ; whereas  by  indirect  (sedative) 
practice,  we  relieve  the  organs,  and  give  them  an  opportunity 
of  recovering  themselves. 

“ One  thing  necessary  to  the  recovery  of  the  nervous 
system  is  arterial  blood  : to  produce  this  of  a good  quality, 
digestion  and  free  respiration  [food  and  fresh  air]  are 
requisite.  It  is  useless  to  supply  other  than  fluid  nutri- 
ment. I have  found  milk  the  best — until  some  renewal  of 
the  nervous  energy  takes  place.  The  restoration  will  not 
be  expedited  by  stimulants.  Experience  teaches  that 
stimulation,  except  during  inanition,  only  oppresses 
Dr.  Thomas  And  Dr.  Thomas  Beaumont,  of  Bradford,  said,  in  a 
Beaumont  on  paper  read  before  the  Royal  Medical  Society  of  Edinburgh 

6 Same'  (April  7,  1843)— 

“ In  my  own  experience,  which  has  extended  over 
nearly  thirty  years,  I have  almost  invariably  rejected  the 
use  of  wine  in  the  treatment  of  fever ; for  early  in  my 
professional  life  I was  engaged  in  a close  attendance  of 
some  months  on  a class  of  patients,  most  of  whom  could 


THERAPEUTICS;  OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


205 


not  afford  to  procure  wine,  in  the  populous  village  of 
Guiseley,  where  typhus  ranged  from  the  ordinary  form  of 
continued  fever,  down  to  the  worst  kind  of  typhus  gravior. 

The  number  of  cases,  and  the  severity  of  the  symptoms, 
were  truly  frightful.  I made  ‘a  virtue  of  necessity,’  and, 
contrary  to  my  professional  prejudices,  proceeded  in  almost 
every  case  without  a drop  of  wine.  The  result  proved 
most  propitious,  the  rate  of  mortality  being  lower  than  I 
ever  remember  in  an  equal  number  of  cases.  From  that 
period  I have  regarded  the  use  of  stimulants  in  fever,  and 
especially  of  alcoholic  stimulants,  with  considerable  dis- 
trust. If,  indeed,  the  effect  of  alcohol  be  to  carbonize  the 
blood — and  of  this  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt — then 
I its  influence  must  be  analogous  to  that  of  fever  itself.  The 
truth  is,  alcohol  is  a treacherous  stimulant,  and  though  it 
may  rouse  the  depressed  powers  for  a time,  is  invariably 
followed  by  a corresponding  collapse.” 

In  the  discussions  which  have  recently  taken  place 
before  the  Medical  Society  of  London,  upon  the  cold-bath 
treatment  in  typhoid  fever,  the  general  character  of  the 
evidence  given  against  antipyretic  treatment  with  drugs, 
and  especially  alcohol,  was  conclusive.  Dr.  William  Cayley  Dr.  Cayley 
furnished  some  remarkable  data,  stating  that  “ during  °f  cokiUiathS 
seven  years  (1868—1874)  the  rate  of  mortality  in  the  treatment 
Prussian  army  from  typhoid  fever  was  fifteen  per  cent. — fevertn0ld 
an  extremely  favourable  rate,  which  spoke  much  for  the  Ge,™a"5' 
efficiency  of  the  medical  department.  The  antipyretic 
treatment,  chiefly  in  the  form  of  cold  bathing,  was  then 
introduced,  and  during  the  next  seven  years  (1875-1881) 
the  rate  was  9' 7 per  cent.  Here  a comparison  of  exactly 
similar  instances  was  made.  The  men  in  the  two  cases 
were  of  the  same  age,  of  the  same  social  position,  fed  in 
the  same  manner,  clothed  in  the  same  manner,  lodged  in 
the  same  manner,  and,  in  all  respects,  placed  under  the 
same  conditions  ; the  only  difference  being  in  the  mode  of 
treatment.  But,  as  German  statistics  on  this  question 
were  perhaps  regarded  as  suspect,  an  appeal  might  be 
made  to  French  authorities,  and  here  Professor  Jaccoud 
might  be  cited ; and  perhaps  his  authority  would  have 
more  weight  with  many,  inasmuch  as  he  was  decidedly 
opposed  to  Brandt’s  method,  but  without  having  given  it 
a fair  trial.  He  stated,  in  the  debate  on  this  subject  at 


206 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


the  Academy  of  Medicine  last  year,  that,  after  a careful 
collection  of  more  than  eighty  thousand  cases,  he  found 
that  the  average  rate  of  mortality  in  typhoid  fever  in 
France,  under  the  old  methods  of  treatment,  was  about 
nineteen  per  cent. ; whereas,  under  the  new  method,  it  was 
below  eleven  per  cent.  It  was  now  necessary  to  inquire 
what  was  this  new  method  which  had  effected  this  great 
reduction  in  the  rate  of  mortality.  Professor  Jaccoud  had 
his  patients  sponged  with  cold  vinegar  and  water,  if  neces- 
sary, as  many  as  ten  times  in  the  twenty -four  hours,  which 
he  termed  giving  them  a seance ; and  also  administered, 
from  time  to  time,  large  doses  of  quinine  or  of  salicylate 
of  soda.  Now,  whether  a patient  was  sponged  ten  times 
a day  with  cold  vinegar  and  water,  or  had  an  occasional 
cold  hath,  was  a question,  not  of  principle,  but  of  detail. 
In  either  case,  the  same  end — namely,  the  persistent 
reduction  of  temperature — would  be  effected.  It  need 
hardly  be  said  that  the  antipyretic  treatment  was  not 
bouml  up  with  the  system  of  cold  bathing,  or  of  any 
particular  method  of  reducing  temperature.  Cold  bathing 
was,  perhaps,  the  most  efficient  mode,  and  the  one  most 
generally  applicable,  and  which,  on  the  whole,  caused 
least  annoyance  to  the  patient;  but  a large  number  of 
cases  were  not  suitable  for  it,  and  for  these  other  means 
must  be  adopted.  Dr.  Cayley  stated  that,  in  his  opinion, 
keeping  the  temperature  down  by  the  abstraction  of  heat 
gave  much  better  results  than  the  repeated  administration 
of  large  doses  of  the  antipyretic  drugs,  as  these  powerful 
remedies  could  not  be  given  in  these  large  and  frequently 
repeated  doses  without  incurring  the  risk  of  seriously 
disturbing  important  functions.  In  his  opinion,  therefore, 
they  should  be  regarded  as  adjuncts  to  the  other  anti- 
pyretic methods,  and  not  as  substitutes.” 

Dr.  A.  T.  It  was  shown  that  the  totality  of  deaths  when  alcohol 

thereat  was  used  was  decidedly  greater  than  when  it  was  not. 
mortality  D r.  A.  T.  Myers  stated  that  from  a collection  of  reports 

tevei-  atPst?ld  in  the  Medical  Register  of  St.  George’s  Hospital  during 
Hospital  the  last  seven  years  (i.e.,  1877-1883)  it  was  found  that  in 

(1877-1883)  a series  of  281  cases,  all  excepting  13  per  cent,  having 
alcoholic  been  treated  exclusively  by  “ expectancy  and  alcohol,” 
treatment,  the  number  of  deaths  had  been  69,  that  is,  a death-rate  of 
24  per  cent. 


THERAPEUTICS;  OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


207 


The  British  Medical  Journal  (March  1,  1884),  in 
summing  up  the  outcome  of  these  important  discussions, 
says — 

“ Dr.  Coupland,  in  his  elaborate  and  able  paper, 
rightly  says  that  cold  bathing  is  the  only  measure  which 
has  succeeded,  and  he  might  have  said  on  several  occa- 
sions, in  saving  life  threatened  by  hyperpyrexia,  and  no 
one  would  dispute  its  efficacy  as  a last  resort  in  such 
urgent  cases.  But  it  is  the  employment  of  the  bath  to 
control  the  whole  course  of  the  fever  that  he  discusses  in 
his  paper.  The  conclusion  at  which  he  arrives  is  one  in 
common  with  Brandt,  Jiirgensen,  Liebermeister,  Cayley, 
and  others,  that  the  mean  mortality  of  London  from  enteric 
fever  treated  all  round  is  fifteen  to  eighteen  per  cent. ; while 
the  mortality  from  cases  treated  by  the  cold  bath  would 
appear  to  be  from  ten  to  seven  per  cent.  This  is  so 
material  a reduction  that,  if  the  facts  are  to  be  relied 
upon— and  we  think  they  are  sufficient  for  the  purpose — it 
should  ensure  for  this  treatment  a much  more  extended 
sphere  of  application  than  it  has  hitherto  obtained.  It  is 
admitted  on  all  hands  that  the  reduction  of  temperature 
by  bathing  is  more  decided  and  more  persistent  than  by 
any  other  means ; but,  at  the  same  time,  we  cannot  think 
that  the  ingenuity  of  the  mechanical  mind  has  exhausted 
itself  in  its  present  measure  of  applying  cold  to  the  surface 
of  the  body.  It  would  hardly  be  an  insuperable  difficulty 
to  apply  continuous  cold  to  the  surface,  either  dry  or 
moist,  equivalent  to  that  of  the  bath ; and  it  is  quite 
possible  that  in  the  ice-pack  and  the  water-bed,  or  some 
modification  of  it,  the  advantages  might  be  obtained  with- 
out the  necessity  of  taking  the  patient  from  his  bed.”  * 

It  is  a happy  augury  for  the  future  that  the  founder 
of  a new  school  of  medicine  (the  Dosimetric),  Dr.  Ad. 
Burggraeve,  in  his  Handbook  of  Dosimetric  Therapeutics 

* The  Medical  Times  (March  8,  1884)  half  grudgingly  admits  that 
the  cold  bath  (sponging  or  wet  pack)  is  superseding  the  drug  treat- 
ment in  Germany.  It  says,  “ The  bath  treatment  of  enteric  fever, 
which,  if  not  absolutely  originated,  was  at  least  brought  into  promi- 
nent notice  for  the  first  time  in  Germany,  has  lately  been  the 
subject  of  discussion  at  the  Medical  Society  of  Leipsic.  No  over- 
whelming consensus  of  opinion  was  brought  to  light  as  to  the 
universal  value  of  the  treatment,  although  its  acceptance  would 
appear  to  be  general.” 


Summary  of 
the  cold-bath 
treatment 
discussions, 
before  the 
London 
Medical 
Society,  in 
British 
Medical 
Journal , 
March  1, 
1884. 


208 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


History  and 
progress  of 
the  London 
Temperance 
Hospital. 


Dr.S.Nicolls’ 
report  on  the 
results  of 
non-alcoholic 
treatment  of 
disease. 


(Ghent,  1876),  does  not  even  mention  alcohol.  For 
typhoid  fever  he  prescribes  Seidlitz  salt,  phosphoric  acid, 
aconite,  veratrine,  etc.  “ The  body  must  frequently  be 
sponged,”  he  says,  “ with  cold  water  or  solution  of  salicylic 
acid.  In  cases  of  high  pyrexia  the  cold  bath,  may  be 
necessary.” 

Thus,  in  its  very  citadel,  as  a therapeutic  agent, 
alcohol  is  found  to  be  very  inferior  in  value  to  other  and 
innocent  remedies. 

§ 58.  A foundation  for  hoping  that  the  use  of  alcohol, 
even  as  a medicine,  will  ultimately  be  abolished,  was  laid 
ten  years  ago  in  the  erection  of  the  London  Temperance 
Hospital. 

The  first  steps  toward  the  establishment  of  this  institu- 
tion may  be  said  to  have  been  caused  by  the  success  of 
non-alcoholic  treatment  of  disease  by  Dr.  S.  Uicolls,  the 
medical  officer  of  the  Longford  Poor  Law  Union,  during 
sixteen  years  (till  1865). 

In  his  “ Report  ” for  the  year  ending  29th  September, 
1865,  he  gives  these  figures  : — 


Fever 
Scarlatina 
Small -pox 
Measles 


Admitted 


142 

33 

48 

8 


Recovered 


135 

30 

47 

8 


Died 


Cases  231  Recoveries  220  Deaths  11 


“ The  treatment  is  altogether  without  alcohol  in  any  form; 
and  the  success  will  be  seen  to  be  the  more  conclusive 
when  the  particulars  of  the  fatal  cases  are  perused : — 

“ Of  the  deaths  in  the  fever  wards,  one  was  a boy  aged 
ten  years,  whose  fever  became  complicated  with  pneumonia, 
of  which  he  died ; two  were  members  of  the  constabulary 
force  from  a neighbouring  Union,  conveyed  considerable 
distances  (I  consider  the  journey  acted  unfavourably)  ; 
four  were  women,  one  of  whom  was  deserted  by  her 
husband,  leaving  six  helpless  children  with  her ; one  was 
a wandering  mendicant  brought  in  from  the  gripe  of  a 
ditch  in  a hopeless  condition  ; another  was  an  unfortunate, 
whose  constitution  had  been  broken  down  by  intemperance ; 
the  fourth  was  a young  woman  who  was  recovering  from 
scarlatina  when  she  was  attacked  with  typhus.  Of  the 
other  four  deaths,  one  was  a case  of  confluent  purple-pock, 


THERAPEUTICS  ; OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


209 


in  a boy  eight  years  old ; three  were  from  scarlatina, 
occurring  with  very  delicate  children,  not  two  years  old. 
The  fever  was,  I dare  say,  of  as  bad  a character  as  in  the 
other  parts  of  Ireland.  In  many  instances  entire  families 
were  brought  in  in  a very  bad  condition.  I still  continue 
the  treatment  which  for  sixteen  years  I have  found  so 
successful.” 

In  1867  Dr.  James  Edmunds,  senior  physician  at  the 
British  Lying-in  Hospital,  London,  proposed  a similar 
experiment  at  that  institution.  It  worked  for  one  year 
with  results  of  a reduced  death-rate  among  both  mothers 
and  live-born  children.  But  opposition,  chiefly  by  sub- 
scribers interested  in  the  liquor  trade,  became  so  great  as 
to  render  continuance  of  this  effort  impracticable.  About 
two  years  later,  however,  a meeting,  consisting  practically 
of  those  who  had  been  thus  handicapped  at  the  British 
Lying-in  Hospital,  was  held  at  the  National  Temperance 
League  Rooms,  and  a committee  was  formed  to  further 
the  establishment  in  London  of  a General  Temperance 
Hospital.  A temporary  hospital  was  begun  at  112,  Gower 
Street,  which  had  only  sixteen  beds,  but  such  success  was 
the  result,  that  a fine  freehold  site  was  subsequently  taken 
upon  the  Hampstead  Road,  and  one  block,  containing 
fifty-two  beds,  was  erected. 

An  aged  gentleman  who  has  been  deeply  impressed 
with  the  results  of  its  work,  and  is  anxious  to  see  the 
hospital  completed  before  his  death,  has  placed  some 
£10,000  at  the  disposal  of  the  Board,  and  a second  wing 
is  now  being  erected  (April,  1884).  These  blocks  will 
raise  the  number  of  beds  to  about  one  hundred  and  twenty, 
while  a large  outdoor  department  will  be  in  operation. 
The  plan  includes  also  a school  and  institute  for  temper- 
ance nurses,  and  a full  medical  school  for  medical  practi- 
tioners, for  which  adjoining  portions  of  land  are  obtainable. 

The  Board  of  Management  in  its  last  report,  May, 
1883,  proved  this  experiment  to  have  been  a success.  “ At 
the  present  time,”  says  this  report,  “ not  only  are  men  of 
distinction  ready  to  admit  the  value  of  the  principle,  with 
few  limitations,  but  the  medical  officers  of  various  public 
institutions  are  applying  it  more  or  less  completely,  and 
with  a success  which  insures  its  widening  adoption.  . . . 
The  practical  conclusion  points  to  such  a generous  support 

p 


The  origin, 
foundation, 
and  work  of 
the  London 
Temperance 
Hospital. 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


of  the  Temperance  Hospital,  and  such  completion  of  its 
scheme,  as  will  keep  its  work  prominently  before  the 
public  eye,  and  will  lend  the  weight  of  its  experience  and 
authority  to  a more  general  exclusion  of  alcohol  from  the 
medical  treatment  of  the  sick.” 

And  the  following  summary*  of  the  results  of  cases 
treated  from  the  beginning  in  1873  up  till  the  last  of 
April,  1883  (nine  years  and  seven  months)  certainly  com- 
pares favourably  with  the  reports  issued  by  hospitals 
where  alcohol  is  still  used  as  a medicine. 

In-patients. 


Cured 

...  953 

Relieved 

...  683 

Died 

77 

Under  treatment  (April  30th,  1883)  ... 

52 

Total  number  admitted 

...  1765 

It  thus  appears  that  during  the  ten  years  the  total 
number  of  patients  admitted  to  the  beds  of  the  hospital 
was  1765.  If  we  deduct  from  this  number  the  52  then 
still  under  treatment  in  the  hospital,  there  will  be  left 
1713  completed  cases.  Among  these  the  77  deaths  make 
a mortality  of  rather  less  than  4'5  per  cent.  Four  and  a 
half  per  cent,  is  an  extremely  low  mortality.  The  cases 
include  successful  operations  of  Csesarian  section,  ovari- 
otomy, lithotomy,  amputations  of  thigh,  etc.,  removal  of 
large  cancerous  tumours,  and  all  the  ordinary  medical  and 
surgical  cases  which  come  under  treatment  in  a London 
general  hospital.  Part  of  this  success  is  due  to  the  dis- 
tinction of  its  medical  staff,  to  the  model  character  of  the 
hospital,  and  to  the  devoted  ladies  who  superintend  the 
nursing.  But  a large  part  of  the  success  is  undoubtedly 
due  to  the  fact  that  alcohol  is  practically  disused.  The 

* Owing  to  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  C.  E.  Dumbleton,  house  surgeon 
at  the  London  Temperance  Hospital,  I am  able  to  subjoin  a continua- 
tion of  this  table,  up  to  March  15,  1884 : — 


Cured  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  1265 

Relieved  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  809 

Died  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  105 

Under  treatment  ...  ...  ...  ...  51 

Total  number  admitted  ...  ...  2230 


THERAPEUTICS;  OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


visiting  physicians  and  surgeons  are  in  no  way  tied  with 
regard  to  the  use  of  alcohol,  if  they  deem  it  desirable  to 
use  it  as  a medicine.  It  is  only  stipulated  that  in  the 
event  of  any  such  exceptional  case,  they  fully  report  the 
matter  to  the  Board.  As  a matter  of  fact,  alcohol  has  only 
been  used  in  one  or  two  experimental  cases,  during  these 
ten  years,  and  in  these  cases  without  beneficial  results. 
As  an  article  of  food  and  as  a pharmaceutical  vehicle,  the 
use  of  alcohol  is  formally  excluded  from  the  hospital. 

The  following  table,  in  extenso,  of  all  the  cases  of 
typhoid  fever  treated  in  the  beds  of  the  London  Temper- 
ance Hospital,  up  to  December  31,  1883,  is  taken  from  the 
Medical  Temperance  Journal  (April,  1884).  (It  will  be 
seen  that  the  total  mortality  is  a little  over  eleven  per 
cent.) 


Cases  op  Typhoid  Fevee  treated  in  the  London  Temperance  Hospital 
to  December  31,  1883  (10£  Years). 


312 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 

Remarks.  (Alcohol  has  not 
been  used  in  any  case.) 

Usual  course  of  symptoms. 

Excellent  recovery. 

Severe  case.  Complicated 

with  broncho-pneumonia. 

In  very  critical  state  when 

admitted.  Temperature 

J.U4. 

Ordinary  case. 

Admitted  in  extremely  pro- 

strate state.  Symptoms  in- 
dicative of  severe  typhoid. 
Serious  congestion  of  both 

lungs.  Severe  intestinal 

haemorrhage.  Purulent 

stools.  Fourteen  evacu- 

ations during  one  night. 
Recovery  rapid  and  com- 

1 fit' 

! - = s- 

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£ t g ~ i 

jUi! 

Result. 

Recovered 

»» 

»» 

: : : 

: : : : 

Date  of 
discharge. 

> 

CS  rH  CO  S 

ijs  i 

rrr 

kkiek 

rrrr 

Physician  in 
charge. 

Dr.  Ridge 

Dr.  Edmunds 

” 

Dr.  Ridge 

•Dr.  Edmunds 

»» 

Dr.  Edmunds 

.ill 

<5 

Abstainer  or 
not. 

Abstainer 

Abstainer  6 
years 

Non-abstainer 

Abstainer  3 
years 

Abstainer  10 
yars 

Non-abstainer 

H 

iiiijtj 

« 3 « £ 

Occupation. 

Painter 

House- 

keeper 

Housewife 

At  school 

Laundry- 

maid 

At  home 

Grocer's 

assistant 

Housewife 

Hairdresser 

Porter 

Son  of  a 
labourer 

1 1 

1 

M. 

F. 

F. 

M. 

F. 

F. 

M. 

F. 

M. 

M. 

M. 

1 

28 

35 

24 

12 

19 

24 

23 

S3  S 2 2 

Initials. 

E.  T. 

S.  D. 

A.  B. 

W.  J. 

A.  A. 

J.  S. 

C.  F. 

M.A.  A. 

a.  w. 

R.  A. 

D.  T. 

Date  of 
admission. 

22nd  Oct., 

1873 

17th  April, 

1874 

16th  May, 
1874 

12th  Aug., 
1874 

1st  Dec., 

1874 

9th  March, 

1875 

8th  Dec., 
187G 

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X- X<S 

ll"a_r 

Case 

Book 

No. 

12 

67 

81 

113 

158 

193 

420 

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THERAPEUTICS;  OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


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213 


214 


Remarks.  (Alcohol  has  not 
been  used  in  any  case.) 

Severe  case.  Patient  phthisi- 
cal. Highest  temperature 

105°-2.  Recovery  slow  but 
complete. 

Suffering  from  an  ovarian 

cyst.  Profuse  intestinal 

haemorrhage. 

Ordinary  case.  Highest  tern- 

perature  106°-2.  □ 

Ordinary  case.  Highest  tern-  H 

perature  104o,4.  n 

Ordinary  case.  Highest  tern- 

perature  105c.  O 

Severe  case.  Complicated 

with  pneumonia  of  right  ^ 

lung.  Highest  tempera-  t) 

ture  106°.  Active  delirium. 

Ordinary  case.  Highest  tern-  H 

perature  104o,8. 

Highest  temperature  104°4. 

About  eleven  evacuations 

per  diem.  O 

Highest  temperature  105°.  ^ 

Highest  temperature  105°. 

Relapsed  case.  Admitted  in  jj 

prostrate  condition.  High-  £3 

cst  temperature  103^*0.  • 

Frequent  evacuations. 

An  old  drinker.  Had  cir- 

rhosis of  liver,  of  which  sho 
died.  After  convalescence 

from  typhoid.  (Post-mor- 

tem examination  made.) 

Relapsed  ease.  Admitted  in 

Result. 

Recovered 

Died 

Recovered 

II 

M 

II 

Died 

Recovered 

Date  of 
discharge. 

22nd  Nov., 
1883 

4t^3Pt" 

20th  Oct., 
1883 

10th  Oct., 
1883 

21st  Oct., 
1883 

21st  Oct., 
1883 

3rd  Oct., 

1883 

3rd  Oct., 

1883 

27th  Oct., 

1883 

14th  Nov., 

1883  • 

1st  Nov., 

1883 

10th  Oct., 

1883 

19th  Nov., 

Physician  in 
charge. 

Dr.  Lee 

Dr.  Edmunds 

Dr.  Lee 

Dr.  Edmunds 

II 

Dr.  Lee 

It 

Abstainer  or 
not. 

N on-abstainer 

Life  abstainer 

Non-abstainer 

Life  abstainer 

Abstainer 

Nou-abstalner 

Occupation. 

Servant 

II 

Clerk 

Son  of  a 
carman 

ii 

Servant 

Teacher 

Milliner 

Daughter  of 
a porter 
Painter 

Housewife 

Custom- 

1 

F. 

F. 

F. 

M. 

M. 

M. 

F. 

F. 

F. 

F. 

M. 

F. 

M. 

■■■■ 

Age. 

23 

22 

17 

23 

9 

10 

15 

18 

20 

14 

32 

35 

34 

Initials. 

A.  M. 

H.  K. 

L.  A. 

— H. 

— 0. 

S.  C. 

R.  W. 

B.  G. 

B.  D. 

L.  T. 

C.  V. 

— K. 

E.  V. 

Date  of 
admission. 

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THERAPEUTICS;  OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


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216 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Or. 

Edmunds’s 
statement 
regarding 
the  character 
of  the  non- 
alcoholic 
treatment  in 
the  London 
Temperance 
Hospital. 


It  will  be  seen  that  the  mortality  of  this  long  series  of 
cases  is  very  much  less  than  usual.  As  to  his  own 
methods  of  treatment,  Dr.  Edmunds  writes  : — 

“1.  I have  prescribed  no  alcohol,  and  I have  a strong 
conviction  that  in  typhoid  fever,  as  a general  rule,  alcohol 
is  not  only  not  necessary,  but  that  it  is  actually  injurious. 
Its  effect,  when  given  in  large  doses,  of  lowering  the 
temperature  is  obtained  more  safely  and  more  easily  by 
tepid  sponging,  the  wet  pack,  simple  diaphoretics — such 
as  the  acetate  of  ammonia,  moderate  doses  of  citrate  of 
potash.  On  the  other  hand,  reduction  of  temperature, 
when  obtained  by  the  large  doses  of  alcohol  which  are 
necessary,  is  followed  by  increased  distaste  for  food,  less 
perfect  digestion,  and  greater  intestinal  suffering.  The 
use  of  alcohol,  also,  in  my  opinion,  predisposes  to  the 
occurrence  both  of  intestinal  hsemorrhage  and  of  that  fatal 
complication — perforation  of  the  intestine. 

“ 2.  I never  feed  my  patients  ‘ solely  with  cold  milk.’ 
I always  use  more  or  less  of  well-boiled  gruel,  made  from 
fine  clean  oatmeal ; and,  generally,  I use  a mixture  of  two 
parts  of  thin  gruel  and  one  part  of  fresh  new  milk ; the 
milk  being  added  direct  to  the  gruel  as  soon  as  this  is 
completely  cooked,  and  thus  becoming  scalded  but  not 
boiled. 

“ 3.  In  cases  of  hemorrhage  from  the  intestine,  I never 
select  lead,  but  always  turpentine,  in  thirty-drop  doses 
given  upon  loaf  sugar,  or  shaken  up  in  milk,  and  repeated 
every  few  hours. 

“ 4.  In  troublesome  diarrhoea  I give  opium  only  as  an 
exceptional  remedy.  Covering  the  abdomen  with  a hot 
wet  flannel  and  waterproof  covering  seems  to  me  to  relieve 
the  pain  and  tenderness  better  than  the  administration  of 
opium. 

“ 5.  I always  prescribe  some  daily  dose  of  fresh  fruit, 
such  as  grape-juice,  or  fresh  lemon-juice  in  sweetened 
barley-water  as  a drink  to  be  taken  at  the  patient’s  dis- 
cretion. Some  such  fresh  vegetable  element  is  much 
longed  for  by  the  fever  patient,  and  can  generally  be  so 
administered  as  not  to  increase  the  diarrhoea.  The 
hfemorrhage,  which  so  frequently  occurs  in  typhoid,  I 
believe  to  be  often  due  to  having  overlooked  this  necessity 
for  fresh  vegetable  juices.  In  all  long  illnesses,  if  fresh 


THERAPEUTICS  ; OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


217 


I 


vegetable  juices  are  not  regularly  administered,  there  arises 
a purpurous  tendency  which  predisposes  to  irrepressible 
haemorrhage,  and  to  extension  of  ulceration. 

“ ISTo  alcohol  has  been  administered,  either  dietetically, 
pharmaceutically,  or  medicinally,  in  any  one  of  the  cases 
of  typhoid  fever  admitted  to  the  Temperance  Hospital,  and 
my  medical  colleagues  and  myself  are  perfectly  satisfied 
with  our  results.”  * 

§ 59.  A consideration  of  paramount  importance  in  con- 
nection with  the  question  of  alcohol  as  a medicine,  is  that 
of  its  effects  on  mothers  and  their  offspring  during  preg- 
nancy and  lactation.  For  England,  indeed,  it  is  a question 
of  the  gravest  moment  to  her  future  independence.  Owing 
chiefly  to  the  fatal  “ Grocers’  Licences  Act,”  there  is  more 
drinking  among  the  women  of  England  to-day  than  among 
the  women  of  any  other  civilized  country.  With  the  growth 
of  this  evil,  in  secret  until  its  dimensions  have  stripped  it 
of  secresy,  there  has  grown  up  a notion  fostering  the  evil, 
and  in  turn  fostered  by  it,  that  intoxicating  liquors  are 
especially  beneficial  to  women  during  pregnancy  and  lacta- 
tion ; and  I wish,  therefore,  in  this  chapter  to  draw  par- 
ticular attention  to  this  part  of  the  subject. 

In  chapter  viii.  it  was  pointed  out  that  certain  and 
terrible  consequences  befel  the  children  and  children’s 
children  of  transgressing  parents,  and  that  the  shocking 
results  of  alcoholic  heredity  were  doubly  certain  when  the 
mother  was  the  drinker. 

But  as  nothing  can  be  of  more  importance  than  the 
proper  beginning  of  life,  and  as  it  is  proven  that  nothing 
artificial  does  it  greater  general  harm  than  alcohol,  I 
quote  here  important  medical  testimony  on  this  point 
dating  from  the  opening  of  the  present  century. 

Dr.  Thomas  Trotter,  in  his  Essay  on  Drunkenness 
(London,  1804),  says,  “ Drink  containing  ardent  spirits, 
such  as  wine,  punch,  caudle  ale,  porter,  must  impregnate 
the  milk,  and  thus  the  digestive  organs  of  the  babe  must 
be  quickly  injured.  These  must  suffer  in  proportion  to 


* “ At  a meeting  of  the  Manchester  and  Salford  Temperance 
Union,  Dr.  Meacham  said  he  was  medical  officer  of  health  for  the 
largest  district  in  England,  and  no  fewer  than  49,000  patients  had 
been  under  his  care.  For  fourteen  years  he  had  not  prescribed 
alcohol.” — Temperance  Review,  Maroh  6,  1884. 


The  effects 
of  the  use  of 
alcohol  on 
mothers  and 
their  off- 
spring a 
question  of 
paramount 
importance. 


Dr.  Thomas 
Trotter  on 
this  point. 


218 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Sir  Anthony 
Carlisle  on 
the  same. 


Dr.  Rosch  on 
the  evils  of 
alcohol 
during 
lactation. 


Dr.  Grindrod 
on  the  same. 


the  delicacy  of  their  texture,  and  the  diseases  which  flow 
from  this  source  are  certainly  not  uncommon  ...  it  is 
well  known  that  nurses  are  in  the  practice  of  giving  spirits 
in  the  form  of  punch  to  young  children  to  make  them 
sleep.  . . . Such  children  are  known  to  be  dull,  drowsy, 
and  stupid,  bloated  in  the  countenance,  with  eyes  inflamed, 
subject  to  sickness  at  stomach,  costive  and  pot-bellied. 
The  body  is  often  covered  with  eruptions,  and  slight 
scratches  are  disposed  to  ulcerate.” 

In  1814  Sir  Anthony  Carlisle  said,  “ Of  all  errors  in 
the  employment  of  fermented  liquors,  that  of  giving  them 
to  children  seems  to  be  fraught  with  the  worst  consequences. 
The  next  in  the  order  of  mischief  is  their  employment  hy 
nurses,  and  which  I suspect  to  be  a common  occasion  of 
dropsy  of  the  brain  in  young  infants.  I doubt  much 
whether  the  future  moral  habits,  the  temper  and  intel- 
lectual propensities,  are  not  greatly  influenced  by  the  early 
effects  of  fermented  liquors  upon  the  brain  and  sensorial 
organs.” 

In  The  Abuse  of  Intoxicating  Liquors  (Tiibingen,  1839), 
Dr.  Rosch,  after  condemning  the  custom  of  giving  wine 
to  women  in  childbirth,  says,  “ Many  diseases  of  children 
owe  their  origin  to  the  mother’s  use  of  spirituous  liquors 
while  nursing.” 

Dr.  Grindrod  ( Bacchus , London,  1839)  says — 

“Alcoholic  liquors  propel  the  organs  of  nutrition  and 
lactation  to  increased  action,  but  it  is  an  action  unnatural 
and  injurious  in  its  effects.  The  organs  employed  in  these 
important  functions  are  regulated  by  laws  on  the  due 
performance  of  which  depends  the  fulfilment  of  Nature’s 
intentions.  Thus,  for  example,  nutritious  food  forms  the 
only  natural  stimulant  for  the  healthy  action  of  the 
stomach,  and  is  the  sole  fountain  of  pure  blood.  Pure 
milk,  which  is  essential  to  the  health  of  the  child,  depends 
upon  proper  digestion.  If  the  functions  of  the  stomach 
act  imperfectly,  the  secretion  of  milk  must,  as  a necessary 
consequence,  be  defective.  Hence  whatever  deranges  the 
functions  of  the  stomach  interferes  with  the  healthy 
lactation.  The  influence  of  alcoholic  liquors  on  lactation 
may  be  considered  in  several  points  of  view.  In  the  first 
place  they  interfere  with  healthy  digestion.  In  this  way 
the  quality  of  the  milk  secreted  becomes  deteriorated  in 


THERAPEUTICS  ; OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


219 


exact  proportion  to  the  amount  of  injury  inflicted  on  the 
organs  of  nutrition.  In  the  second  place  they  influence 
the  quantity  of  the  secretion.  The  vessels  employed  in 
this  function,  urged  on  by  an  alien  impulse,  produce  an 
unusual  and  enlarged  supply.  It  does  not  follow,  however, 
that  an  increase  in  the  amount  of  secretion  is  attended 
with  a proportionate  increase  in  the  quantum  of  nutriment. 
The  contrary  is  often  the  case.  Milk  may  be  secreted  in 
large  quantities  ill  calculated  to  supply  the  ends  of  nature. 
Hence  numbers  of  puny  emaciated  children,  the  offspring 
of  parents  who  indulge  in  strong  drink.” 

In  his  lectures  on  The  Physiological  Operation  of  Alcohol 
(1862),  Dr.  E.  Gr.  Figg,  in  speaking  of  the  infant  before 
birth  and  during  lactation,  says,  “No  one  conversant 
with  the  principle  of  foetal  nutrition  will  feel  disposed  to 
controvert  the  opinion  that  the  placenta  is  not  only  a lung 
to  the  unborn  infant,  but  a digestive  system,  performing 
the  duty  of  the  latter,  by  assuming  at  once  the  office  of 
the  stomach,  an  excreting  intestine,  a mesenteric  gland, 
and  an  assimilative  organ.  Independently  of  imparting 
oxygen  to  the  foetal  blood  in  minute  quantities,  not 
adequate  to  its  perfect  arterialization,  and  taking  up 
sustenance  for  it,  the  placenta  removes  impurities  returned 
from  the  foetal  body  ; not  as  the  stomach  does  in  the  un- 
digested material,  nor  as  chyle,  like  the  thoracic  duct, 
but  in  the  maturely  elaborated  substance,  transferred  by 
exosmose  in  a manner  incomprehensible,  inasmuch  as  the 
membranous  parieties  of  the  placental  cells  appear  to  the 
microscope  impermeable  to  matter  in  a form  so  gross  as 
atoms  of  fi brine. 

“ Whatever  doubt  may  exist  as  to  the  modus  operandi, 
there  is  none  whatever  as  to  the  fact;  of  which  any  one 
may  convince  himself  by  examination  of  the  surface  of 
every  third  or  fourth  placenta  delivered,  which  will  be 
found  coated  with  ossific  deposits  of  carbonate  and  phos- 
phate of  lime,  which  substances  being  in  the  foetal  depart- 
ment of  that  organ,  could  have  reached  it  only  through 
the  maternal  cell-walls.  The  cows  in  the  cotton  districts 
of  England,  when  fed  on  the  refuse  of  madder  and  other 
vegetable  dye  stuffs,  invariably  stain  the  bones  of  the  calf 
ante  partum.  Experience,  however,  does  not  favour  the 
idea  that  the  placenta  exercises  a selective  discretion  in 


Dr.  E.  G. 
Figg  on  the 
effects 
alcohol  pro- 
duces during 
pregnancy 
and  lactation. 


220 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


appropriating  that  which  may  he  ultimately  available  in 
the  infant  frame,  for  the  placenta  receives  and  circulates 
any  poison  or  virus  that  may  be  presented  in  the  maternal 
system.  An  infant  in  utero  is  often  affected  with  variola, 
contemporaneously  or  immediately  consecutive  to  the 
course  of  the  disease  in  the  mother.  I have  attended 
a patient  in  Asiatic  cholera,  and  a week  later  delivered 
her  of  a dead  foetus,  in  which  the  characteristic  slate 
colour  infallibly  indicated  the  cause  of  dissolution. 

“ These  facts,  even  in  a theoretical  aspect,  are  quite 
sufficient  to  establish  the  rationality  of  the  proposition 
that  the  alcohol  swallowed  by  the  pregnant  mother  must 
act  injuriously  on  the  child,  not  merely  indirectly,  by 
rendering  the  material  transferred  through  the  placenta 
unfit  for  incorporation  with  the  foetal  tissues,  but  directly, 
by  affecting  the  nervous  system  of  the  foetus,  just  as  it 
does  that  of  the  mother. 

“ I may,  in  addition,  appeal  to  the  stethoscopic  exami- 
nation of  two  pregnant  women.  During  the  progress  of 
intoxication,  though  of  course  not  synchronous,  I found 
that  whenever  the  mother’s  pulse  was  excited,  so  was  the 
infant’s  heart.  When  the  pulse  of  the  parent,  in  a 
more  advanced  stage,  became  full  and  round,  the  beat 
of  the  heart  in  the  child  assumed  a similar  character; 
and  when  feeble  and  compressible  in  collapse,  the  heart 
of  the  foetus  was  scarcely  audible.  What  inference  could 
be  drawn  from  the  circumstances,  but  that  when  the 
mother  got  drunk,  the  child  got  drunk ; when  the  mother 
became  insensible,  the  child  became  insensible  ; and 
when  the  mother  was  collapsed,  the  child  was  so  also  ? 
Every  midwife  is  acquainted  with  the  effect  produced 
on  the  majority  of  healthy  foeti,  if  the  cold  hand  be 
suddenly  placed  over  the  maternal  hypogastric  region. 
The  infant,  influenced  by  a kind  of  instinctive  con- 
sciousness, springs  from  its  position,  imparting  a sensible 
impulse  to  the  practitioner’s  hand  through  the  uterine 
parieties  and  intervening  muscles,  thus  yielding  as  good 
a test  of  the  viable  condition  of  the  child  as  the  stethoscope 
could  give.  In  one  of  the  women  I never  could  excite 
these  movements  during  her  drinking  fits,  though  in  the 
other  eminently  present  in  the  incipient  stage  of  intoxica- 
tion, but  not  producible  after.  I attended  another,  who 


THERAPEUTICS  ; OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


221 


dated  the  death  of  her  infant  from  an  act  of  excess.  The 
child  never  moved  subsequently  to  her  intoxication,  and 
the  premonitory  symptoms  of  labour  occurred  in  eight 
days. 

“ In  nursing  mothers  we  have  the  same  routine  of  mani- 
festations, with  a very  slight  variation  in  the  preliminary 
circumstances.  The  breast  here  supersedes  the  placenta 
as  the  paramount  organ  in  Nature’s  regards.  The  nutritious 
extracts  from  the  food  replenish  in  the  first  instance  this 
repository  of  the  infant’s  support,  the  maternal  economy 
(at  this  crisis  a less  important  consideration)  receiving 
only  the  surplus  contributions  from  the  digestive  system. 
So  thoroughly  insufficient  is  the  mother’s  alcoholized 
system  for  the  double  task  of  maintaining  herself  and 
progeny,  that  we  are  warranted  in  placing  the  prosperity 
of  the  infant  in  juxtaposition  with  that  of  the  parent.  If 
the  child  becomes  robust  the  mother  becomes  emaciated ; 
vice  versa,  a robust,  plethoric  mother  almost  always  insures 
a cadaverous,  debilitated  infant.  In  asserting  that  the 
essence  of  the  food  passes  at  once  to  the  breast,  without 
adoption  by  the  maternal  tissues,  I advance  a theory  con- 
sistent with  all  analogy.  If  a cow  be  fed  on  turnips,  she 
imparts  the  peculiar  odour  of  that  vegetable  to  her  milk. 
The  action  of  a drastic  purgative  taken  by  the  mother  is 
established  in  the  infant  at  the  breast.  Through  the 
same  medium  the  dysentery  in  the  mother  is  transferred 
to  her  child,  commencing  in  aphthous  ulceration  of  the 
mouth,  extending  by  continuity  through  the  whole  in- 
testinal canal,  and  resulting  in  the  characteristic  dis- 
charges. So  I have  seen  the  disease  arrested  in  both  by 
the  astringent  principle  of  the  opiates  administered  to 
the  parent,  acting  simultaneously  and  keeping  the  infant 
in  a somnolent  condition.  In  this  country,  among  the 
lower  classes,  a glass  of  spirit  taken  by  the  mother  is  a 
popular  and  often  effectual  remedy  for  the  tormina  (gripes, 
colic)  of  an  infant.  We  can  guess  at  the  quantity  which 
finds  its  way  to  the  breasts  by  the  effect.  If  the  child  be 
fed  from  a cup,  a large  teaspoonful  of  spirit  is  often  added 
to  a single  meal,  even  when  the  recipient  is  not  more  than 
a week  old,  that  quantity  being  barely  sufficient  for  the 
purpose.  This  fact  affords  at  least  an  approximate 
standard  for  calculation  as  to  the  proportion  of  alcohol 


222 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr.  E.  Smith 
on  the  use 
of  alcohol 
during  lacta- 
tion. 


Dr.  James 
Edmunds  on 
the  diet  for 
nursing 
mothers. 


in  each  glass  of  spirit  which  reached  the  infant  after  con- 
sumption by  the  mother;  and  is,  therefore,  an  excellent 
rule  for  ascertaining  the  quantity  passed  through  the 
infant’s  system  when  the  mother  is  habitually  dissipated, 
or  perhaps  erroneously  attempts  to  relieve  the  mental 
depression  or  corporeal  exhaustion  incidental  to  lactation 
by  an  occasional  glass.  My  acknowledgments  are  due  to 
Dr.  Mackenzie,  for  his  kindness  in  analyzing  to  the  best 
of  his  ability  two  specimens  of  milk  sent  by  me  for  that 
purpose,  which  were  obtained  from  nursing  mothers,  of 
nearly  the  same  age,  of  the  same  social  rank,  and  three 
months  after  parturition.  One  was  a temperate  woman 
in  robust  health,  and  substantially  fed,  whose  milk  con- 
stituted the  only  sustenance  of  her  child.  The  other  was 
an  emaciated  drinker  whose  infant  presented  a miniature 
of  herself. 

Milk  of  temperate  mother.  Milk  of  drinking  mother. 


Salts 

...  8-50 

Salts 

...  5-50 

Casein  ... 

...  3-0 

Casein  ... 

...  20 

Oil 

...  750 

Oil 

...  6-5 

Water 

...  81-0 

Water 

...  840 

Alcohol  ... 

...  20 

1000  1000 

In  his  Practical  Pietary  (London,  1865),  Dr.  Edward 
Smith  gives  like  testimony  in  these  words:  “Alcohols 
are  largely  used  by  many  persons  in  the  belief  that  they 
support  the  system  and  maintain  the  supply  of  milk  for 
the  infant ; but  I am  convinced  that  this  is  a serious  error, 
and  is  not  an  unfrequent  cause  of  fits  and  emaciation  in  tlie 
child:’ 

In  his  paper  on  Alcoholic  Pi-inks  as  an  Article  of  Piet 
for  Nursing  Mothers  ( Medical  Temperance  Journal , July, 
1870),  Dr.  Edmunds,  then  senior  physician  to  the  British 
Lying-in  Hospital,  thus  puts  this  matter : — “ The  masti- 
cation, digestion,  and  primary  assimilation  of  the  sucking 
infant’s  food  is  thrown  upon  the  mother’s  organs ; but 
the  tissues  of  the  child  are  nourished  precisely  as  are  the 
tissues  of  the  mother,  and  a nursing  mother  requires 
simply  to  digest  a larger  supply  of  wholesome  and 
appropriate  food.  As  a matter  of  course  mothers  with 
imperfect  teeth  or  weak  stomachs  cannot  perform  the 


THERAPEUTICS;  OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


223 


digestion  of  extra  food  for  the  infant  so  well  as  those 
mothers  who  have  an  abundance  of  reserve  power  in  their 
digestive  apparatus,  and  with  such  patients  the  question 
arises,  how  are  they  to  make  up  for  the  deficiency  which 
they  soon  experience  in  the  supply  of  milk  ? They  should 
assist  their  digestive  apparatus  as  much  as  possible  by 
securing  an  abundance  of  suitable  and  nutritious  food, 
prepared  in  the  best  way  and  as  is  most  digestible,  while 
they  should  lessen  the  demands  of  their  own  system  by 
the  avoidance  of  bodily  fatigue  and  mental  excitement. 
These  means,  aided  by  that  philosophical  hygiene  which 
is  at  all  times  essential  to  the  preservation  of  pure  and 
perfect  health,  will  enable  them  to  supply  a maximum 
quantity  of  pure  and  wholesome  milk;  further  calls 
by  the  child  require  proper  artificial  food.  Unfortunately 
such  advice  fails  to  satisfy  many  anxious  mothers,  who 
refuse  to  admit  or  believe  that  they  are  less  robust  or  less 
capable  than  other  ladies  of  their  acquaintance,  and  such 
mothers  fall  easy  victims  to  circulars  vaunting  the  nourish- 
ing properties  of  ‘ Hoare’s  Stout,’  ‘ Tanqueray’s  Gin,’ 
or  Gilbey’s  ‘ strengthening  Port,’  circulars  which  are 
always  backed  up  by  the  example  and  advice  of  lady 
friends,  who  themselves  have  acquired  the  habit  of  using 
these  liquors,  and  who  view  as  a reproach  to  themselves 
the  practice  of  any  other  lady  who  may  not  keep  them  in 
countenance  as  the  perfection  of  all  moral  and  physical 
propriety.  It  is  a matter  of  common  observation  that  a 
glass  of  spirit  taken  at  bedtime  by  a nursing  mother,  not 
merely  increases  the  flow  of  milk  during  the  night,  but 
causes  the  child  to  sleep  heavily.  Under  these  circum- 
stances the  spirit  acts,  not  as  a purgative,  nor  as  a diuretic, 
nor  as  a diaphoretic,  nor  does  much  of  it  pass  off  by  the 
lungs,  but  it  acts  as  a lactagogue,  because  the  breasts  are 
then  in  a state  of  great  activity,  and  form  the  readiest 
channel  through  which  the  mother’s  system  can  eliminate 
the  alcohol.  In  order  to  effect  that  elimination  the  breasts 
have  to  discharge  a profuser  quantity  of  milk ; but  the 
increased  quantity  of  milk  is  produced  by  a mere  addition 
of  alcohol  and  water,  or  it  is  produced  by  impoverishing 
and  straining  the  system  of  the  mother.  In  either  case 
the  poisonous  influence  of  the  alcohol  is  manifested  in 
narcotizing  the  child,  and  it  cannot  need  much  reflection 


224 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr.  Edmunds 
on  the  special 
effects  of 
beer-drink- 
ing during 
lactation. 


to  show  that  children  ought  not  to  have  alcohol  filtered 
into  them  as  receptacles  for  matters  which  the  mother’s 
system  finds  it  necessary  to  eliminate.  Probably  nothing 
could  be  worse  than  to  have  the  veiy  fabric  of  the  child’s 
tissues  laid  down  from  alcoholized  blood.” 

Of  the  effects  of  beer-drinking,  he  says,  ‘ I have 
observed  the  following  facts : — The  mothers  frequently 
make  flesh,  and  even  become  corpulent ; often,  however,  at 
the  same  time  they  get  pale,  and  where  they  are  not  con- 
stitutionally robust  in  fibre  they  become  inactive,  short- 
breathed,  coarse-complexioned,  nervous,  and  irritable,  and 
suffer  from  weakness  of  the  heart  and  a long  train  of 
symptoms  which  are  more  or  less  severe  according  to 
the  constitution  of  the  mother  and  the  quantity  of  alcohol 
she  imbibes.  The  young  mother  prematurely  loses  the 
bloom  and  beauty  of  youth.  Often  it  is  quite  startling  to 
meet  some  lady,  who  during  an  interval  of  two  years  has 
been  transformed  from  a sprightly  and  charming  young 
woman  into  an  uninteresting  coarse-looking  matron.  She 
has  nursed  her  first  infant  for  twelve  months.  With  a 
pure  and  rational  diet,  she  would  simply  have  acquired 
a more  dignified  and  womanly  bearing,  with  a robuster 
gentleness  of  manner ; but  a liberal  supply  of  ‘ nourish-  | 
ing  ’ stout,  a glass  of  port  at  luncheon,  and  a little  gin- 
and-water  at  bedtime,  one  after  the  other  were  adopted, 
and  imbibed  regularly,  in  order  to  supply  her  infant  with  l 
‘milk.’  The  presence  of  a nerveless  apathy,  or  unin- 
telligent irritability,  afterwards  proved  that  a liberal 
supply  of  ‘ stimulants  ’ was  required  to  support  her 
strength,  and,  although  she  ceased  nursing,  her  own  sensa- 
tions convinced  her  of  the  necessity  of  continuing  them. 
The  outward  and  visible  change  is  but  an  exponent  of  the 
degenerations  and  diseases  which  are  taking  root  within. 

If  there  be  a predisposition  to  insanity  or  consumption,  [ 
these  diseases  are  developed  very  rapidly,  or  they  are  j 
brought  on  where  proper  management  might  altogether  | 
have  tided  over  those  periods  of  life  at  which  the  predis- 
position is  prone  to  become  provoked  into  actual  disease. 

“ Infants  nursed  by  mothers  who  drink  much  beer  also  | 
become  fatter  than  usual,  and  to  an  untrained  eye  some-  ! 
times  appear  as  ‘ magnificent  children.’  But  the  fatness  of  ! 
such  children  is  not  a recommendation  to  the  more  know- 


THERAPEUTICS;  OR,  ALCOHOL  AS  A MEDICINE. 


225 


ing  observer ; they  are  exceedingly  prone  to  die  of  inflam- 
mation of  the  chest  (bronchitis)  after  a few  days’  illness 
from  an  ordinary  cold.  They  die  very  much  more  fre- 
quently than  other  children  of  convulsions  and  diarrhoea 
while  cutting  their  teeth,  and  they  are  very  liable  to  die 
of  scrofulous  inflammation  of  the  membranes  of  the  brain, 
commonly  called  “ water  on  the  brain,”  while  their  child- 
hood often  presents  a painful  contrast — in  the  way  of 
crooked  legs  and  stunted  or  ill-shapen  figure — to  the 
‘magnificent  and  promising  appearance  of  their  infancy.’  ” 

And  Dr.  Harrison  Branthwaite,  in  his  first  annual 
report  on  The  Sanitary  Condition  of  Willesden  (1882), 
speaks  feelingly  of  the  increase  in  child-mortality,  and 
deplores  “the  pernicious  habit  of  drinking  large  quantities 
of  ale  or  stout  by  nursing  mothers,  under  the  idea  that 
they  thereby  increase  and  improve  the  secretion  of  milk, 
whereas  they  are  in  reality  deteriorating  the  quality  of 
that  upon  which  the  infant  must  depend  for  health  and 
life.” 

On  the  8th  of  January,  1881,  Dr.  J.  C.  Reid  wrote  to  the 
British  Medical  Journal:  “Truly  he  is  a happy  man — 
a happy  doctor  I should  say— who  can  honestly  affirm  that 
he  never,  by  his  alcoholic  prescriptions,  made  a drunkard. 
For  myself,  in  my  earlier  days  I was  a firm  believer  in  the 
many  supposed  virtues  of  alcoholic  compounds.  It  is 
about  fourteen  years  ago  that  the  scales  were  removed 
from  my  eyes  by  the  stern  reality  of  facts,  and  my  sole 
regret  now  is  that  I held  out  so  long  against  evidence  of 
the  most  startling  kind. 

“ Many  years  ago,  when  I asked  a noted  drunkard  to 
sign  the  pledge,  she  replied  bitterly  that  I was  the  last 
man  who  ought  to  give  her  such  advice.  For  it  was  my 
own  father  who  had  taught  her  to  love  the  drink.  He 
had  prescribed  whiskey  for  her  in  an  illness,  and  she  had 
learned  to  love  it.  I succeeded  with  her  for  fifteen  months, 
but  after  that  she  fell  into  the  old  miserable  habit.” 


Dr.  Branth- 
waite on 
child  mor- 
tality from 
the  use  of 
ale  and  stout 
during 
lactation. 


Dr.  J.  C. 
Reid’s  warn- 
ing against 
alcoholic 
prescription. 


Q 


226 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


General 
value  of 
statistics. 


CHAPTER  X. 

SOCIAL  RESULTS,  OR  THE  GENERAL  EFFECTS  ON  SOCIETY  CAUSED 
BY  ALCOHOL. 

“Not  one  man  in  a thousand  dies  a natural  death,  and  most  diseases 
have  their  rise  from  intemperance.” — Lord  Bacon. 

“ People  dread  cholera,  but  brandy  is  a far  worse  plague.” — 
Balzac. 

“ If  alcohol  were  unknown,  half  the  sin  and  three  quarters  of 
the  poverty  and  unhappiness  would  disappear  from  the  world.” — 
Edmund  A.  Parkes. 

“ Short  of  drunkenness  (that  is,  in  those  effects  of  it  which  stop 
short  of  drunkenness),  I should  say,  from  my  experience,  that  alcohol 
is  the  most  destructive  agent  we  are  aware  of  in  this  country.” 
— Sir  William  Gull  before  the  Lords’  Select  Committee  of  inquiry 
into  prevalence  of  intemperance,  1877. 

§ 60.  In  the  preceding  chapters  I have  endeavoured  to 
point  out  the  multifarious  deep-reaching  evils  which 
alcohol  entails  on  the  individual  who  indulges  in  its  use. 
In  this  chapter  I shall  try  to  show  how  generally  these 
effects  have  been  produced ; i.e.,  how  many  persons  are 
suffering  from  the  habit  of  drink,  and  in  what  way  and 
degree  it  has  acted  on  society  and  the  State,  especially 
in  regard  to  this  country  (England). 

To  this  end,  which  I can  only  hope  to  reach  approxi- 
mately, I must  make  use  of  statistics — both  governmental 
and  others — which  throw  light  on  these  points.  And  the 
enormous  amount  of  available  statistics  on  this  matter, 
together  with  their  scope ; the  almost  impossibility  of 
making  any  brief,  and  at  the  same  time  clear  statistical 
statement ; and  the  latitude  of  interpretation  which  almost 
all  statistics  afford,  has  made  this  portion  of  the  work  very 
difficult. 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


227 


Modern  Government  statistics  are  definite,  and  convey 
a definite  meaning,  but  their  purport  may  be  modifiable 
by  a hundred  different  circumstances  understood  and 
allowed  for  by  few,  excepting  trained  statisticians.  Not- 
withstanding this,  I cannot  agree  with  those  who  deem 
that  to  the  general  public,  statistics  are  not  worth  their 
cost  in  paper  and  ink. 

All  statistics  have  a great  worth  negatively  at  least ; 
that  is,  as  showing  that  the  minimum  of  a national  condi- 
tion of  prosperity  or  decline  has  been  fairly  ascertained. 
Non-personal  statistics,  or  such  as  relate  to  the  gross 
amount  of  produce,  manufactures,  food,  drink,  their  cost, 
etc.,  have  even  a positive  value;  but  those  relating  to 
persons — excepting  births,  deaths,  marriages,  and  the  like 
—all  statistics  involving  self-interests,  whether  for  conceal- 
ing income,  escaping  taxation,  or  avoiding  uncompensated 
labour  or  expenditure  of  time  in  any  way,  or  for  escaping 
the  law,  etc.,  etc.,  have  only  a comparatively  negative  value. 

Statistics,  for  example,  regarding  convictions  for 
drunkenness  have  only  the  value  of  showing  how  many 
people  the  repressive  foi’ce  of  the  State  has  found  it  neces- 
sary to  punish  for  having  deliberately  entered  into  a 
personally  irresponsible  condition.  But  this  would  afford 
not  even  relatively  correct  information  as  to  the  existing 
amount  of  drunkenness.  In  the  first  place,  intoxicated 
people,  if  not  incapable,  or  deserted,  or  dangerously 
violent,  are  seldom  arrested.  Again,  no  police  officer  ven- 
tures into  private  homes  merely  because  there  are  drunken 
people  there ; he  does  not  interfere  with  any  peaceful 
transfer  of  a drunken  person  from  the  place  of  drinking  to 
his  home  ; and  any  one  who  will  take  the  trouble  of  looking 
into  public-houses,  especially  early  in  the  mornings  and 
late  at  night,  can  form  some  idea  of  the  inadequacy  of  the 
police  returns  on  drunkenness  as  a real  indication  of  the 
condition  of  the  people  on  this  point.* 

* In  giving  the  aggregates  of  the  Blade  List  of  crimes  due  to 
drink  in  England  during  the  Christmas  week  of  1883,  and  the  first 
week  of  1884,  as  follows  : — - 

26  perilous  accidents  through  drink, 

13  robberies  through  drink, 

5 cases  of  drunken  insanity, 

63  drunken  outrages  and  violent  assaults, 


228 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Incon- 
sistency of 
the  attitude 
of  Parlia- 
ment toward 
the  drink- 
question. 


Again,  many  inebriates  escape  from  arrest,  or  if  arrested 
are  not  counted  in  with  tie  convicted,  being  saved  by 
intercession,*  personal  influence,  position,  birth,  etc. 

If  thoughtful  analysis  of  the  ruin  -which  alcohol  works 
for  the  individual,  strengthened  by  the  continual  spectacle  j 
of  its  ghastly  effects  which  our  homes  and  our  streets  ' 
afford — if  these  do  not  awaken  a sense  of  the  paramount  1 
duty  of  each  and  all  to  banish  alcohol  for  ever  from  the 
lips  of  mankind,  then  no  statistics,  however  tenable,  i 
conclusive,  and  undeniable,  could  be  of  avail. 

§ 61.  With  some  notable  individual  exceptions,  Parlia-  i 
ment  does  not  yet  seem  to  be  impressed  with  its  responsi-  } 
bility  in  the  battle  against  drink  ; for  although  appalling  | 
statistics,  steadily  increasing  in  dimensions,  of  crimes  and 
insanity,  unanimously  admitted  to  be  the  results  of  drink,  I 
are  annually  laid  before  its  members,  yet  petitions  from 
towns  and  whole  counties  signed  by  overwhelming 
majorities  appeal  in  vain  to  Parliament  to  be  allowed  to  : 
banish  the  temptation  of  drink  from  their  midst,  or  that 
the  number  of  places  for  the  sale  of  alcoholic  drinks  may  | 
be  limited. 

And  yet  as  long  ago  as  1819-20,  the  British  Parlia-  j 


20  drunken  stabbings,  cuttings,  and  woundings, 

5 cases  of  drunken  cruelty  to  children, 

74  assaults  on  women  through  drink, 

13  cases  of  juvenile  intoxication, 

70  drunken  assaults  on  constables, 

94  premature,  sudden,  or  violent  deaths  through  drink, 

18  cases  of  suicide  attempted  through  drink, 

15  cases  of  drunken  suicide  completed,  and 
12  drunken  manslaughters  or  murders, 
the  Alliance  News  (January  26,  1884)  says,  “ And  besides  this,  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  reporters  for  the  press  are  by  no  i 
means  always  disposed  or  enabled  to  record  the  part  which  strong 
drink  has  manifestly  had  in  the  cases  which  they  chronicle.  A 
Scottish  correspondent,  in  sending  in  his  contributions  to  the  Blacl I 
List,  writes  that  ‘ There  were  nearly  as  many  cases  which  we  might 
have  legitimately  inferred  were  equally  due  to  drink,  but  as  liquor 
was  not  directly  charged  with  the  evil  we  had  to  do  without  the  j 
record.’  No  doubt  a similar  remark  might  have  been  made  by  all 
our  coadjutors.” 

* “A  Plymouth  publican  was  yesterday  charged  with  having  i 
drunken  women  on  his  premises  after  closing  time.  He  proved  that 
they  were  lodgers,  and  the  charge  was  dismissed.” — Echo  (February  | 
1,  1884). 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


229 


mentary  Committee  on  Drink  stated  that  “ public-houses 
can  only  be  regarded  as  Schools  of  Iniquity 

The  moral  inertia  of  Parliament  as  regards  this  evil 
is  conspicuous  in  the  continued  Government  supply  of 
alcoholic  drinks  to  the  inmates  of  the  workhouses. 

The  Canterbury  Convocations,  in  their  report  several 
years  ago  on  drink,  said — 

“ It  appears,  indeed,  that  at  least  seventy-five  per  cent, 
of  the  occupants  of  our  workhouses,  and  a large  proportion 
of  those  receiving  outdoor  relief,  have  become  pensioners 
on  the  public  directly  or  indirectly  through  drunkenness.” 

This  inertia  is  the  more  inexplicable  when  we  remember 
that  it  must  be  patent  to  legislators  and  governments  that 
the  desperate  spectre  for  years  threatening  Europe  with 
the  assassination  of  her  rulers  and  the  overthrow  of  the 
established  order  of  things,  is  the  alcohol-goaded  despair, 
not  of  stolid  but  of  naturally  earnest  minds.* 

They  cannot  be  blind  to  the  fact  that  the  fitfulness  and 
the  unintelligence  of  popular  favour,  the  irrationality 
and  perversion  of  public  opinion,  as  well  as  the  dogged 
adherence  to  a bad  measure  once  advocated — as  if  the 
mind  groping  and  fumbling  in  a dark  chamber,  having 
grasped  something,  hangs  to  it  without  any  thought  of 
its  meaning  or  use — are  largely  due  to  the  general  mental 
derangement  which  general  indulgence  in  alcohol  induces. 

Why  do  so  many  of  the  noblest  thinkers  of  our  time — 
those  who  have  looked  seriously  into  the  problems  which 
modern  civilization  presents — why  do  they  despair  of  the 
future  of  the  race  ? Why  is  the  general  turn  of  mind  in 
our  age  stoically  pessimistic  or  cynically  materialistic  ? 

Why  indeed  ? unless  it  is  that  the  later  generations 
of  men,  inheritors  and  further  developers  of  the  insidious 
poison  of  alcohol,  are  becoming  in  mind,  as  in  body,  des- 
sicated,  life-sucked,  so  that  the  whole  civilized  race  is  not 
only  crumbling  physically  | (however  imperceptibly  to  the 

* Says  John  Disney,  in  Ancient  Laws  against  Immorality  (Cam. 
bridge,  1729): — 

“ The  vice  of  intemperance  debases  the  genius  and  spirit  of  a 
nation ; indisposes  them  to  noble  designs  and  generous  actions ; and 
: either  softens  them  to  an  effeminate  indolence  for  the  public  welfare, 
or  fires  them  to  seditious  tumults.” 

t Sir  Henry  Thompson,  writing  (March  15,  1873)  to  the  late 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  (Dr.  Archibald  Campbell  Tait),  claimed 


230 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Various 
weighty 
opinions  on 
destructive 
effects  of 
alcohol  upon 
society. 
Buffon. 

H.  W. 
Beecher. 


careless  and  indifferent) , but  seems  to  be  dwindling  morally 
into  two  more  or  less  interchangeable  but  distinct  types ; 
the  one  not  believing  in  the  verity  of  God  or  the  faith  of 
man,  without  hope  and  without  emotion — existing,  indeed, 
only  in  a narrow  line  of  cynical  intellectual  activity ; the 
other,  alternating  between  weakened  faith  and  craven 
doubt,  tossed  by  dark  passions,  temptations,  and  furies, 
not  the  least  of  which  are  momentary  spiritual  exaltations, 
mocked  by  and  toppling  over  in  swiftly  succeeding  debility 
and  despair. 

Both  these  types  wear  a deceivingly  fair  exterior.  W e 
often  see  magnificent  boughs  and  beautiful  foliage  on  trees 
whose  trunks  are  but  hollow  crusts,  worm-eaten  from  core 
to  rim.  For  fruit,  or  fuel,  or  for  weathering  the  storm 
such  a tree  is  naught,  but  yet  the  specious  trunk  manages 
to  hold  up  and  flaunt  the  fair  foliage  ! 

§ 62.  Every  one  knows  that  abstinence  is  the  exception 
and  drinking — whether  moderate  or  excessive — the  rule. 
And  those  who,  bearing  this  in  mind,  have  attentively  read 
the  preceding  pages  can  feel  what  the  results  must  be,  far 
more  adequately  than  the  most  eloquent  pen  could  portray 
them,  and  will  not  find  it  difficult  to  credit  that  almost 
the  whole  state  machinery  of  repression  and  punishment 
of  crime,  the  whole  army  of  police,  detectives,  judges, 
jailers,  and  hangmen,  and  the  vast  misery  and  expense  of 
jails  and  lunatic  asylums — yes,  the  asylums  for  idiots  and 
the  defective  classes — might  be  done  away  with  if — oh ! 
what  a mighty  if! — people  would  not  touch  alcoholic 
liquors. 

In  practical  testimony  to  this  truth  I may  cite  the 
following  authorities : — 

“ Drink  alone  destroys — ruins — more  people  than  all 
the  other  plagues  together,  which  afflict  humanity.’’ — 
Buffon’s  Discourse  on  Nature  (1765). 

“ Every  year  I live  increases  my  conviction  that  the 
use  of  intoxicating  drinks  is  a greater  destroying  force  to 
life  and  virtue  than  all  other  physical  evils  combined.’’ — 
H.  W.  Beecher  to  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association.  Yew 
York  (1862). 


that  drinking  “tends  to  deteriorate  the  race  . . . and  disqualifies 
it  for  advance.” 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


231 


“ The  use  of  strong  drink  produces  more  idleness,  The  Times. 
crime,  disease,  want,  and  misery  than  all  other  causes  put 
together.” — Times  (January  19,  1863). 

“ After  running  oyer  the  statistics  of  death  from  drink  Dr.  Germain 
published  in  the  various  countries,  after  attending  for  Marty- 
some  years  the  clinique  of  the  great  Parisian  hospitals, 
after  consulting  the  registry  of  cases  admitted  to  ‘ homes 
for  strangers,’  one  becomes  perfectly  convinced  that 
alcoholic  poisoning  is  a more  murderous  plague,  perhaps, 
than  the  great  epidemics  which  at  different  epochs  have 
devastated  humanity.  The  pest,  the  cholera,  the  yellow 
fever,  break  out  suddenly  and  decimate  a village,  a province, 
a whole  country,  but  their  passage  is  transitory  in  essence. 

Alcoholism  takes  no  holiday .”  — Dr.  Germain  Marty 
( Medical  Thesis , Paris,  December  24,  1872). 

“ It  has  been  said  that  greater  calamities  are  inflicted  w.  e.  Giad- 
on  mankind  by  intemperance  than  by  the  three  great  stone- 
historical  scourges,  war,  pestilence,  and  famine.  This  is 
true  for  us,  and  it  is  the  measure  of  our-  discredit  and 
disgrace.” — W.  E.  Gladstone  (speech  in  House  of  Commons, 

March  5,  1880).  

Who  can  speak  more  authoritatively,  or  with  more  Opinions  of 
impartiality,  concerning  the  relations  between  drink  and  oftiledseS 
crime,  than  the  iudges  of  Great  Britain  P * And  what  United 
do  they  say  ? Let  us  see.  Kingdom. 

“ I have  been  thirty  years  chairman  of  quarter  sessions  M.O’Sbaugh- 
in  several  counties  in  Ireland.  I have,  perhaps,  presided  nessy- 
at  more  criminal  trials  than  most  men  living,  and  I can 
truly  say  that  I have  had  scarcely  a case  before  me  with 
reference  to  the  class  of  offences  known  as  against  the 
person,  that  was  not  the  consequence  of  drunkenness.” — 

Mr.  M.  O’Shaughnessy,  Q.C.,  Chairman  of  Quarter  Sessions, 

Co.  Clare. 

“ Men  go  into  public-houses  respectable,  and  come  out  Mr  .Justice 
felons.” — Mr.  Justice  Grove.  Grove' 

“ The  crying  and  besetting  crime  of  intemperance  is  a Mr.  Justice 
crime  leading  to  all  other  crimes  ; a crime  which  you  may  Fltzserald- 
very  well  say  leads  to  nineteen-twentieths  of  the  crimes  of 
this  country.” — Mr.  Justice  Fitzgerald,  Dublin  Assizes, 

1878. 


See  opening  pages  of  chap.  viii. 


232 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Baron 

Dowse. 


Stipendiary 
magistrate  of 
Liverpool. 


Lord  Chief 
Justice  Cole- 
ridge. 


Mr.  Justice 
Denman. 


Baron 

Huddleston. 


Sir  Matthew 
Hale. 


“ Tf  our  people  were  more  sober  I think  crime  would 
almost  entirely  disappear  from  our  midst.” — Baron  Dowse, 
at  Wicklow,  1878. 

Again,  in  charging  the  jury  in  the  Dublin  Commission 
Court,  November,  1881,  the  Baron  said  he  “found  that 
drink  was  at  the  bottom  of  almost  every  crime  committed 
in  Dublin.  Even  in  cases  that  had  no  apparent  connection 
with  drink  at  all,  if  closely  investigated , as  he  himself  had 
done  on  many  occasions,  they  would  he  found  to  have  their 
origin  in  drinkE 

The  Bench  of  England  confirms  the  Bench  of  Ireland. 


In  1878  the  stipendiary  magistrate  of  Liverpool  said — 

“ The  moving  cause  of  crimes  of  violence  and  disorder 
in  our  midst  is  drunkenness.  We  may  set  down  three- 
fourths,  I think  nine-tenths  of  them,  as  arising  from 
drunkenness.” 

In  1881  Lord  Chief  Justice  Coleridge  stated  from  the  | 
bench  of  the  Supreme  Court,  that  “ Judges  were  weary  j 
with  calling  attention  to  drink  as  the  principal  cause  of 
crime,  but  he  could  not  refrain  from  saying  that  if  they 
could  make  England  sober  they  would  shut  up  nine-tenths  • 
of  the  prisons.” 

In  his  charge  at  the  Surrey  Assizes,  in  August,  1882, 
Mr.  Justice  Denman  said — 

“ I don’t  know,  in  enforcing  the  considerations  which 
are  placed  before  the  judges  as  a part  of  their  duty  in  the 
proclamation  against  vice  and  immorality  which  has  just 
been  read,  that  any  judge  can  better  discharge  his  duty 
than  by  again  and  again  calling  the  attention  of  the  gentry 
of  the  country,  as  well  as  inhabitants  generally,  to  this 
fact,  that  the  great  bulk — I might  almost  say  the  whole 
— of  the  offences  of  violence  which  take  place  in  the 
counties  of  this  land  are  directly  ascribable  to  the  habit 
of  drinking.” 

In  the  same  month  and  year  Baron  Huddleston  is  j 
reported  to  have  said  to  the  grand  jury  at  Swansea  that — I 
“ Of  the  forty-four  cases  down  on  the  calendar,  he  found  ij 
almost  all  traceable,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the  detestable 
habit  of  drinking.  Two  hundred  years  ago,  Sir  Matthew 
Hale,  one  of  the  most  eminent  judges  that  ever  adorned  ■ 
the  English  bench,  declared  that  twenty  years  of  observa-  tl 
tion  taught  him  that  the  original  cause  of  most  of  the  ; 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


233 


enormities  committed  by  criminals  was  drink.  Four  out 
of  every  five  of  them  were  the  issue  and  product  of  drink- 
ing in  taverns  and  alehouses.  Baron  Huddleston  feared 
what  was  true  then  was  true  now,  and  that  we  have 
improved  very  little,  if  at  all.” 

At  the  Chester  Spring  Assizes,  on  the  13th  of  April, 
1883,  Mr.  Justice  Hawkins,  in  charging  the  grand  jury, 
said  that — 

“ Although,  numerically,  the  calendar  was  light,  yet 
there  were  in  it  charges  recorded  against  several  persons 
of  most  serious  offences.  After  referring  to  other  cases, 
his  lordship  touched  upon  the  attempted  murder  of  a child 
by  its  mother  by  throwing  it  upon  the  fire,  then  pouring 
scalding  water  upon  it.  The  mother  was  under  the  in- 
fluence of  drink,  and  it  was  almost  always  the  case,  accord- 
ing to  his  experience,  that  drink  was  at  the  root  of  crime. 
Nine  out  of  every  ten  crimes  of  violence  that  had  come 
before  him  were  in  one  way  or  another  attributable  to 
drink.” 

Again,  on  the  16th  of  July,  1883,  Mr.  Justice  Hawkins 
is  reported  to  have  said,  in  charging  the  grand  jury  at 
the  opening  of  the  Durham  Assizes,  that  he — 

“ Had  had  considerable  experience  in  courts  of  law, 
and  every  day  he  lived  the  more  firmly  did  he  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  root  of  all  crime  was  drink.  It  affected 
people  of  all  ages  and  both  sexes — the  middle-aged,  the 
young,  the  father,  the  son,  the  husband,  and  the  wife. 
It  was  drink  which  was  the  incentive  to  crimes  of 
dishonesty ; a man  stole  in  order  that  he  might  provide 
himself  with  the  means  of  getting  drink.  It  was  drink 
which  caused  homes  to  be  impoverished,  and  they  could 
trace  to  its  source  the  cause  of  misery  which  was  to  be 
found  in  many  a cottage  home  which  had  been  denuded  of 
all  the  common  necessities  of  life.  He  believed  that  nine- 
tenths  of  the  crime  of  this  country,  and  certainly  of  the  county 
of  Durham,  was  engendered  within  public-houses*  When 
he  came  to  that  conclusion  he  thought  it  was  his  duty  to 
enjoin  upon  the  magistrates  who  had  the  power  to  check 
in  some  respect  the  terrible  ravages  of  drink,  to  do  their 
utmost  to  suppress  it  with  all  the  power  and  authority 
with  which  the  law  invested  them.  The  county  of 
* See  opening  pages  of  chap.  viii. 


Mr.  Justice 
Hawkins. 


234 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Mr.  William 
Hoyle’s 
drink 
statistics. 


The  Rev.  Dr. 
Dawson 
Burns  on  the 
expenditure 
of  the 

British  Isles 
annually  in 
drink  as 
compared 
with  other 
expenditure. 


Durham  was  the  one  county  in  all  England  where  crime 
was  most  prevalent.” 

§ 63.  The  statistics  quoted  below  are  principally  taken 
from  various  parts  of  the  work  of  the  indefatigable  and 
admittedly  the  best  statistician  on  the  subject  of  drink 
— Mr.  William  Hoyle. 

Commenting,  in  a leading  article  of  great  ability,  on 
Mr.  Hoyle’s  statistics,  the  Times  (March  29,  1881)  says, 

“ Drinking  baffles  us,  confounds  us,  shames  us,  and  mocks 
at  us  at  every  point.  It  outwits  alike  the  teacher,  the 
man  of  business,  the  patriot,  and  the  legislator.  Every 
other  institution  flounders  in  hopeless  difficulties ; the 
public-house  holds  its  triumphant  course.  The  adminis- 
trators of  public  and  private  charity  are  told  that  alms 
and  oblations  go  with  rates,  doles,  and  pensions  to  the 
all-absorbing  bar  of  the  public-house.” 

Estimating  roughly  in  round  numbers,  so  as  to  leave 
more  room  for  a comparative  computation  of  vast  numbers, 
we  find  that  the  average  of  the  gross  total  of  the  national 
income  during  the  last  ten  years  (ending  in  1881)  was 
£850,000,000  a year.  According  to  Hoyle,  the  direct 
average  expenditure  for  drink  annually,  during  the  same 
time  exceeded  £136,000,000,  and  he  estimates  that  annually 
£138,000,000  were  indirectly  spent  or  lost  through  drink — 
a total  drinking  expenditure  of  £274,000,000. 

“ Deducting,  say,  £54,000,000  from  this  sum  for 
revenue,”  says  Hoyle,  “ and  for  what  some  persons  might 
consider  the  needful  use  of  these  drinks  in  medicine  or 
otherwise,  it  still  leaves  a sum  of  £220,000,000  as  the 
annual  economic  loss  to  the  nation  in  consequence  of  the 
drinking  customs  of  our  population.” 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Dawson  Burns,  in  Christendom  and  the  I 
Drink  Curse  (London,  1875),  makes  this  succinct  summary 
of  the  comparative  loss  to  the  nation  annually  occasioned 
by  drink : — “ The  British  people  annually  expend  on  in- 
toxicating liquors  a sum  of  above  a hundred  and  thirty 
millions  sterling,  the  great  bulk  of  it  coming  from  the 
pockets  of  men  and  women  who  would  be  seriously  affronted 
if  any  doubt  were  cast  upon  their  religious  sincerity.  This 
sum  is  sixty  millions  in  excess  of  the  national  revenue.  It 
is  one-sixth  of  the  National  Debt.  It  is  one-fifth  the  value 
of  all  the  railway  property  of  the  United  Kingdom.  It  is 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


235 


equal  to  one-fourth  of  the  whole  income  of  the  wage- 
; receiving  classes,  and  one-eighth  of  the  income  of  all  classes 
united.  It  is  equal  to  a yearly  expenditure  of  £4  per  head, 
and  of  £22  per  family,  in  the  United  Kingdom.” 

In  a paper  read  before  the  Statistical  Society  of  London 
(April,  1880),  Mr.  Stephen  Bourne,  a noted  statistician, 
i arrived  at  similar  results  to  Mr.  Hoyle’s,  but  from  an 
opposite  point  of  view. 

Mr.  Hoyle  estimates  the  harm  done  from  computing  the 
pecuniary  loss ; Mr.  Bourne  computes  the  pecuniary  loss 
from  the  harm  done.  The  National  Temperance  League 
Annual  (1883)  gives  the  following  summary  of  Mr.  Bourne’s 
paper : — - 

“ Mr.  Bourne  estimates  that  of  the  people  of  this 
country  about  lOf  millions  are  ‘ producers  ; ’ that  of  these 
‘ 65  or  70  per  cent,  are  wholly  employed  in  providing  food, 
drink,  and  other  necessaries  of  life;  and  that  it  is  only  the 
remainder  (three  millions  and  a half)  who  are  available 
for  the  production  of  luxuries,  and  the  accumulation  of 
wealth.’  He  further  estimates  that  the  producing  power 
of  1,097,625  persons  is  wholly  absorbed  by  the  liquor  traffic ; 
and  that  884,000  who  might  be  employed  as  producers  of 
wealth,  are  rendered  economically  useless  by  the  damage 


done  by  drink.  The  latter  number  being  made  up  as 
follows : — 

‘ By  deaths,  adult  and  infantile  ...  ...  120,000 

„ sickness  of  producers  ...  ...  150,000 

„ ,,  administrators  ...  ...  185,000 

„ pauperism  ...  ...  ...  200,000 

„ crime  ...  ...  ...  ...  88,000 

,,  professional  and  other  service  ...  50,000 

„ revenue  officials  ...  ...  ...  6,000 

„ army,  navy,  and  merchant  service  ...  85,000 


884,000  ’ 

“ If  there  was  no  alcohol  to  be  produced  or  consumed 
there  might  be  two  millions  of  producers,  or  an  addition 
of  60  per  cent,  to  our  power  of  producing  articles  other 
than  those  of  daily  use  for  stores.  That  is,  as  two  millions 
constitute  about  a fifth  of  the  total  number  of  producers, 
the  drink  traffic  absorbs  about  one-fifth  of  the  productive 
power  of  the  nation.  And  the  total  income  of  the  nation — 
the  total  product  of  the  industry  of  the  nation,  is  variously 


Mr.  Stephen 
Bourne  on 
the  same. 


236 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Mr.  Hoyle’s 
“ Drink 
Traffic  and 
its  Evils.” 


estimated  at  from  850  millions  to  1200  millions  a year. 
Mr.  Gladstone  puts  it  at  about  1000  millions  a year.  One- 
fifth  of  this  sum  is  200  millions.  So  that,  measured  in 
money,  the  yearly  cost  of  the  drink  traffic  to  the  nation  is 
about  200  millions,  a sum  which  approximates  very  closely 
to  that  reached  by  Mr.  Hoyle.” 

Roughly  estimating  the  average  liquor  revenue  during 
the  same  ten  years  (1871-1881)  at  £32,000,000  annually, 
and  subtracting  half  this  sum  as  the  admitted  average 
amount  which  the  State  expends  in  preventing,  repairing, 
and  punishing  evils  resulting  from  drink,  we  find  that  the 
State  annually  expends  between  150  and  200  million  pounds 
— most  of  which  might  be  saved  to  the  people — in  order  to 
make  sure  of  its  own  annual  revenue  of  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  million  pounds. 

In  the  Drinli  Traffic  and  its  Evils,  Mr.  Hoyle  makes  the 
following  comparison  of  estimates  : — “ To  manufacture 
the  £134,000,000  worth  of  intoxicating  liquors  consumed 
during  each  of  the  past  twelve  years,  80,000,000  bushels  of 
grain,  or  its  equivalent  in  produce,  has  been  destroyed 
each  year ; and,  taking  the  bushel  of  barley  at  53  lbs.,  it 
gives  us  4,240,000,000  lbs.  of  food  destroyed  year  by  year, 
or  a total  for  the  twelve  years  of  960,000,000  bushels  or 
50,880,000,000  lbs. 

“ The  generally  accepted  estimate  of  grain  consumed  as 
bread  food  by  the  population  of  the  United  Kingdom  is 
5^  bushels  per  head  per  annum ; if  this  be  so,  then,  the 
food  which  has  been  destroyed  to  manufacture  the  intoxi- 
cating liquors  which  have  been  consumed  in  the  United 
Kingdom  during  the  past  twelve  years  would  supply  the 
entire  population  with  bread  for  four  years  and  five  months  ; 
or,  it  would  give  a 4-lb.  loaf  of  bread  to  every  family  in  the 
United  Kingdom  daily  during  the  next  six  years. 

“ If  the  grain  and  produce  which  have  thus  been  de- 
stroyed yearly  were  converted  into  flour  and  baked  into 
loaves,  they  would  make  1,200,000,000  4-lb.  loaves.  To 
bake  these  loaves  it  would  require  750  bakeries  producing 
500  loaves  each  hour,  and  working  ten  hours  daily  during 
the  whole  year. 

“ An  acre  of  fairly  good  land  is  estimated  to  yield  about 
38  bushels  of  barley.  If  this  be  so,  then,  to  grow  the 
grain  to  manufacture  the  £134,000,000  worth  of  liquor 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


237 


which  has  been  consumed  yearly,  it  would  take  a cornfield 
of  more  than  2,000,000  acres,  or  it  would  cover  the  entire 
counties  of  Kent,  Surrey,  Middlesex,  and  Berkshire.* 

“ The  value  of  the  bread  consumed  annually  in  the 
United  Kingdom  is  estimated  at  £70,000,000.  Mr.  Caird 
estimates  the  value  of  the  butter  and  cheese  consumed 
yearly  at  £27,500,000,  and  that  of  milk  at  £26,000,000, 
so  that  we  have  spent  as  much  upon  intoxicating  liquors 
each  year  during  the  past  twelve  years  as  upon  bread, 
butter,  cheese,  and  milk,  and  leaving  £10,000,000  yearly 
to  spare. 

“ The  rent  paid  for  houses  in  the  United  Kingdom  is 

# “ Table  showing  the  Population,  Total  Cost,  and  Average  Cost 
pee  Head  op  Intoxicating  Liquors  in  the  United  Kingdom 
poe  various  Tears  peom  1820  to  1870,  and  poe  each  sub- 
sequent Year  up  to  1882. 


Year. 

Population. 

Total  cost. 

Average  cost 
per  head. 

£ 

£ 

s. 

d. 

1820 

20,807,000 

50,440,655 

2 

8 

6 

1825 

22,571,000 

67,027,263 

2 

19 

5 

1830 

23,820,000 

67,292,278 

2 

16 

5 

1835 

25,443,000 

80,527,819 

3 

3 

0 

1840 

26,500,000 

77,605,882 

2 

18 

10 

1845 

27,072,000 

71,632,232 

2 

12 

11 

1850 

27,320,000 

80,718,083 

2 

18 

10 

1855 

28,183,000 

76,761,114 

2 

14 

6 

1860 

28,778,000 

85,276,870 

2 

18 

6 

1865 

29,861,000 

106,439,561 

3 

11 

3 

1870 

31,205,000 

118,736,279 

3 

16 

1 

1871 

31,513,000 

125,586,902 

3 

19 

1 

1872 

31,835,000 

131,601,490 

4 

2 

8 

1873 

32,124,000 

140,014,712 

4 

7 

8 

1874 

32,426,000 

141,342,997 

4 

7 

2 

1875 

32,749,000 

142,876,669 

4 

7 

3 

1876 

33,093,000 

147,288,759 

4 

9 

0 

1877 

33,446,000 

142,007,231 

4 

4 

10 

1878 

33,799,000 

142,188,900 

4 

4 

1 

1879 

34,155,000 

128,143,865 

3 

15 

0 

1880 

34,468,000 

122,279,275 

3 

10 

11 

1881 

34,929,000 

127,074,460 

3 

12 

3 

1882 

35,278,000 

126,255,139 

3 

12 

0 ’ 

—William  Hoyle’s  Our  National  Drink  Bill  as  it  affects  the  Nation’s 
Well-being.  London,  1884. 


238 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


about  £70,000,000  per  annum ; the  money  spent  yearly 
upon  woollen  goods  is  about  £46,000,000,  and  upon  cotton 
goods  £14,000,000,  giving  a total  of  £130,000,000 ; so 
that  we  have  spent  upon  intoxicating  drinks  each  year 
during  the  last  twelve  years  as  much  as  the  total  amount 
of  the  house-rental  of  the  United  Kingdom  plus  the 
money  spent  in  woollen  and  cotton  goods,  and  leaving 
upwards  of  £4,000,000  to  spare.” 

According  to  the  Daily  Review  of  Edinburgh  (March  4, 
1884),  Sir  William  Collins,  at  the  great  Scottish  Temperance 
Convention  (of  the  day  previous) , after  moving  the  first  reso- 
lution, to  wit,  “ That  in  the  opinion  of  this  convention,  the 
traffic  in  intoxicating  liquors,  as  common  beverages,  is  a pro- 
lific source  of  drunkenness,  insanity,  pauperism,  vice,  crime, 
misery,  disease,  and  death ; and  whilst  thus  proving  ruinous 
to  individuals  and  families,  is  at  the  same  time  hurtful 
to  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the  nation,  and  utterly 
opposed  to  the  general  prosperity  and  well-being  of  the 
community,”  said  that,  “ Assuming  that  the  population  of 
Glasgow  contributed  their  proportion  to  the  national  drink 
bill,  it  would  amount  to  nearly  £2,000,000  per  annum,  or 
£13  10s.  per  family,  while  the  whole  rental  of  dwelling- 
houses  in  the  city  amounted  to  £1,233,371,  or  only 
£10  15s.  per  family  ; and  the  average  rental  of  the  houses 
in  which  two-thirds  of  the  people  lived  was  only  £6  10s., 
or  less  than  one-half  of  the  average  sum  spent  per  family 
on  strong  drink.  On  the  other  hand,  the  only  result  of 
the  yearly  drink  bill  was  a large  expenditure  in  dealing 
with  the  crime,  poverty,  and  insanity  which  flowed  from 
the  traffic  as  a natural  result,  and  an  untold  amount  of 
misery,  disease,  and  death  to  the  slaves  of  the  appetite, 
and,  would  that  he  did  not  require  to  add,  to  the  helpless 
wives  and  still  more  helpless  and  innocent  children. 
Could  they,  as  patriots  and  professing  Christians,  stand 
longer  by,  and  allow  this  state  of  things  to  continue  ? The 
nations  of  the  past,  who  stood  in  the  front  rank  of  civiliza- 
tion, where  were  they  P They  fell  because  of  their  vices. 
Could  they,  who  have  had  higher  privileges,  hope  to  escape 
from  the  consequences  of  their  national  vice  and  their 
national  sin  P ” 

And  ex-Bailie  Lewis,  in  a subsequent  speech  on  the 
same  occasion,  said  that  “ He  had  just  been  favoured  with 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


239 


the  able  and  elaborate  report  of  Captain  M‘Call,  of  Glasgow, 
which  afforded  evidence  that  during  1883  no  fewer  than 
52,827  of  the  population  of  Glasgow  were  before  a police 
magistrate.  Of  that  number  40,537  were  charged  with 
drunkenness,  simple  assaults,  etc.  ; and  again,  of  that 
number  14,366  were  dragged  from  the  gutters  and 
gathered  from  the  streets  drunk  and  incapable.  They  had 
thus  1 out  of  every  40  of  the  population  drunk  and  in- 
capable ; 1 out  of  every  15  charged  with  drunkenness  and 
assaults;  and  1 out  of  every  11  before  a police  magistrate. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  western  metropolis,  whose 
motto  is,  ‘ Let  Glasgow  flourish  by  the  Preaching  of  the 
Word.’  It  was  right  to  observe  that  numbers  of  these 
were  recommitments,  but  when  they  considered  the  large 
number  of  drunken  persons  who  never  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  police,  it  did  not  materially  alter  the  case.” 

All  these  figures  point  with  a vengeance  to  the  relations  The  relations 
between  drink  and  poverty.  With  the  sum  now  annually 
wasted  in  and  through  drink,  England  could  in  a few  poverty, 
years  pay  the  entire  National  Debt,  and  each  individual 
could  be  comfortably  housed,  clothed,  and  fed. 

It  is  a common  opinion  that  poverty  has  more  to  do  in 
producing  drink  than  drink  in  producing  poverty,  yet  it 
must,  from  the  foregoing  startling  figures,  be  perfectly 
obvious  that  there  is  no  comparison  between  the  two. 

The  £130,000,000  expended  in  drink  are  the  direct  outlay 
only ; the  best  authorities  declare  that  the  mischief  pro- 
duced by  this  drink,  estimated  in  money,  more  than  equals 
this  sum,  so  that  at  least  £250,000,000  form  the  gross  total 
of  the  annual  national  loss  through  drink,  which  must 
inevitably  produce  a stupendous  amount  of  poverty.  That, 
in  this  production  of  poverty,  many  afflicted  through  it  do 
not  drink  before  being  struck  down  by  misfortune,  is  no 
doubt  true ; but  the  great  mass  of  the  impoverished  are 
so  through  drink,  and  further,  though  the  poorer  they 
become  the  less  do  they  have  to  expend  in  drink,  yet  the 
little  they  do  have  is  more  certainly  and  exclusively  spent 
in  that  way,  to  the  utter  neglect  of  every  other  claim  or 
necessity.  Thus  drink  first  produces  poverty,  and  then 
pushes  it  beyond  the  reach  of  remedy.* 

# “ 1 One  in  every  eight  of  the  population  of  rich  and  prosperous 


240 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr.  Dawson 
Burns  on 
drinking  as 
the  main- 
spring of 
pauperism. 


That  poverty  causes  drink  in  the  sense  that  the 
wretchedly  poor  drink  to  drown  their  misery  is  probably 
in  many  instances  true;  but  in  this  argument  it  is  often 
forgotten  that  the  abject  poverty  which  drives  this  class 
of  people  (meaning  here  all  who  turn  to  drink  not  from 
vicious  propensity,  but  under  the  goad  of  unbearable 
woes)  to  drink,  is  directly  due  to  the  circumstances  and 
conditions  as  to  work  and  wages,  etc.,  which  the  drink 
traffic  produces  among  the  working  classes,  so  that  the 
honest,  decent  poor  are  beaten  down  in  their  struggle  to 
keep  on  the  level  of  decent  poverty,  and  in  their  despair 
seek  refuge  in  the  very  evil  they  have  fought  against  at 
such  heavy  odds  so  long. 

“ If  all  testimony  is  not  fallacious,”  says  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Burns  (op.  cit.'),  “the  mainspring  of  Pauperism  and  of  all 
Destitution  is  Drinking  ; and  until  that  is  overcome,  little 
reduction  of  the  measure  or  burdens  of  this  evil  can  be. 
expected.  Any  temporary  diminution  will  disappear  with 
fluctuations  of  trade  that  are  certain  to  occur.  Without 
a Temperance  reform,  every  project  for  permanently 
ameliorating  our  national  impoverishment  must  be  com- 
paratively inefficient ; but  with  such  a reform  the  desired 
end  could  he  accomplished  to  such  an  extent  that  the 


England  dies  a pauper.’  So  we  are  told.  But  is  not  the  statement 
altogether  incredible  P Is  there  in  all  broad  England  one  prominent 
statesman  or  one  leading  journalist  who  would  believe  it,  if  it  were 
put  before  him  ? I am  convinced  that  there  is  not  one.  Yet  it  is 
substantially  accurate.  Here  are  the  facts — some  of  the  facts — on 
which  it  is  based.  In  England  and  Wales  during  recent  years,  the 
number  of  paupers  at  one  time  receiving  relief  has  averaged  800,000. 
Of  these  a little  under  200,000  have  been  indoor,  and  a little  over 
600,000  have  been  outdoor  paupers.  Among  the  indoor  paupers  the 
mortality  is  very  great.  The  Registrar-General's  returns  show  that 
the  deaths  among  indoor  paupers  constitute  one-fifteenth  of  the 
total  number  of  deaths  in  the  country.  It  is  difficult  to  ascertain 
with  precision  the  number  of  deaths  which  yearly  take  place  among 
the  600,000  outdoor  paupers.  Would  it  be  extravagant  to  assume 
that  the  number  of  deaths  (not  the  death  rate)  amongst  them  must 
be  at  least  as  great  as  among  the  200,000  ? If  it  be  assumed  that 
the  number  of  deaths  (not  the  death  rate,  observe)  among  the  600,000 
is  as  great  as  among  the  200,000 ; that  is,  if  the  death  rate  among  the 
former  is  one-third  as  great  as  among  the  latter,  we  are  shut  in  to 
the  conclusion  that  of  every  fifteen  deaths  which  take  place  in 
England  and  Wales,  two  are  the  deaths  of  paupers.  And  that  is  a 
greater  proportion  than  one  in  eight.” — Alliance  News. 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


241 


worst  forms  of  indigence  and  wretchedness  would  become 
as  rare  as  they  are  now  common  ; all  classes  would  be 
relieved,  and  it  would  be  possible  to  extend  adequate  aid 
to  those  who  are  most  deserving,  but  who  now  are  either 
totally  neglected  or  but  scantily  assisted.” 

§ 64.  This  problem  of  poverty  and  degradation  is  now  so 
prominently  before  the  public  that  it  seems  specially  fitting 
to  call  attention  particularly  to  these  evils  as  a result  of 
drink — to  which  fact,  testimony  of  a very  striking  character 
comes  in  on  every  side;  which,  it  is  earnestly  to  be  hoped, 
will  receive  due  attention  from  the  Royal  Commission  for 
devising  means  for  housing  the  poor,  now  sitting. 

The  report  of  the  Parliamentary  Committee  on  Drink 
of  1834  says — 

“ The  loss  of  productive  labour  in  every  department 
of  occupation,  is  to  the  extent  of  at  least  one  day  in  six 
throughout  the  kingdom  (as  testified  by  witnesses  engaged 
in  various  manufacturing  operations),  by  which  the  wealth 
of  the  country,  created,  as  it  is,  chiefly  by  labour,  is 
retarded  or  suppressed  to  the  extent  of  one  million  of 
every  six  that  is  produced,  to  say  nothing  of  the  constant 
derangement,  imperfection,  and  destruction  in  every 
agricultural  and  manufacturing  process,  occasioned  by  the 
intemperance  and  consequent  unskilfulness,  inattention, 
and  neglect  of  those  affected  by  intoxication,  and  pro- 
ducing great  injury  in  our  domestic  and  foreign  trade.” 

Prom  the  reports  by  Drs.  Parkes  and  Sanderson 
(1871),  I cite  the  following  : — 

“A  tin-plate  worker  in  constant  work  earns  22s.  a 
week.  He  has  a wife,  a careful,  respectable  woman,  and 
four  children.  The  husband  drank  heavily.  Sometimes 
he  brought  home  18s.,  sometimes  16s.,  sometimes  12s. ; 
last  week  he  drank  it  all.  If  he  would  bring  22s.  a week 
she  would  be  happy  as  the  day  is  long.  This  family  of 
six  persons  were  living  in  one  back  room,  paying  Is.  6d. 
a week  rent.  It  was  10j  feet  long,  9 feet  broad,  and  8| 
feet  high.  The  furniture  was  a bed,  table,  and  two  rickety 
chairs.  Two  of  the  four  children  were  sick.” 

Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson,  M.P.,  addressing  a meeting  of  the 
United  Kingdom  Alliance,  January  24,  1879,  said— 

“ There  were  a great  many  causes  working  together 
and  causing  the  distress  of  the  country  at  the  present 

K 


Parlia- 
mentary 
report  on  in- 
temperance 
in  1834. 


Reports  of 
Drs.  Parkes 
and  Sander- 
son. 


Statement  by 
Sir  Wilfrid 
Lawson. 


242 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Address  by 
Lord  Derby. 


time.  Everybody  bad  bis  notion  about  tbe  causes  of  it. 
He  read  in  tbe  Licensed  Victuallers'  Guardian  tbe  argu- 
ment of  the  licensed  victuallers  for  it.  Tbeir  account 
was  tbat  tbe  distress  was  caused  by  over-trading,  over- 
trading was  caused  by  dishonesty  and  hypocrisy,  and 
hypocrisy  was  caused  by  teetotalism.  He  was  of  tbe 
contrary  opinion.  He  bebeved  if  tbe  bulk  of  tbe  people 
of  this  country  were  teetotalers  there  would  have  been 
very  little  distress  at  the  present  time.  The  Lord  Provost, 
during  the  last  few  weeks  tbat  be  bad  administered  relief 
to  tbe  distressed  in  Glasgow,  bad  asked  every  applicant 
if  be  was  a teetotaler,  and  found  be  bad  not  one  teetotaler 
come  before  him  for  relief.  Hot  considering  other 
questions  of  foolish  expenditure,  be  said  the  £140,000,000 
which  they  spent  every  year  in  drink  was  quite  sufficient 
to  account  for  tbe  distress.  So  long  as  in  a country  like 
this  we  went  on  spending  tbat  enormous  amount  of  money, 
it  appeared  to  him  impossible  that  we  could  have  a return 
to  the  prosperity  which  we  should  all  like  to  see.  The 
question  was,  bow  to  put  this  expenditure  down  ? It  was 
said  by  some,  ‘ Educate  tbe  people,’  but  he  would  ask 
bow  long  we  bad  to  wait  before  these  educational  results 
showed  themselves  P During  tbe  last  ten  years  we  must 
have  spent  upwards  of  twenty  millions  of  public  money 
alone  in  educating  tbe  people,  whilst  intemperance  bad 
rather  increased  than  diminished.  So  tbat  they  would 
see  tbat  education  alone  was  not  the  cure.  Some  people 
said  that  tbe  people  wanted  better  homes,  and  that  would 
be  tbe  remedy.  But  it  was  tbe  drinking  that  made  the 
bad  home.  It  was  not  tbe  bad  homes  that  made  tbe 
drinking.  Others  there  were  who  held  tbat  religion 
would  cure  it.  He  admitted  tbat  truth  was  omnipotent, 
but  if  they  could  not  bring  tbe  truth  home  to  tbe  people 
it  was  no  good.” 

On  tbe  16th  of  January,  1880,  Lord  Derby,  in  an 
address  to  the  Liverpool  Penny  Savings  Bank  Association, 
said — 

“ It  may  seem  almost  ridiculous  to  speak  of  penny 
savings  in  connection  with  tbe  growth  or  decline  of  national 
wealth : but  yet  look  at  tbe  matter  that  way.  I will  not 
repeat  tbe  old  story  of  what  tbe  British  liquor  bill  is — just 
one  hundred  and  forty  millions,  or  £20  a bead  for  every 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


243 


family  of  five  in  the  British  Isles.  Nor  will  I tell  you  that 
half  that  sum  saved  would  pay  all  the  taxes  of  the  year  ; 
but  we  all  know  that,  without  supposing  the  nation  to 
adopt  very  ascetic  habits,  or  even  to  become  as  strictly 
frugal  as  France,  there  is  an  enormous  margin  for  reason- 
able economy,  and  we  do  not,  I think,  always  sufficiently 
appreciate  the  fact  that  private  frugality  will  enforce 
public  economy.  Suppose  only  one  quarter  of  the  sum 
spent  in  liquor  or  tobacco  to  be  saved,  that  implies  a 
reduction  of  ten  millions  in  the  revenue,  and  do  you 
suppose  any  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  would  go  to  work  to 
put  on  those  ten  millions  again  by  taxation  ? Not  he;  he 
would  learn  to  do  without  them.  It  is  a peculiarity  of  this 
country,  and  I think  a happy  peculiarity,  that  the  classes 
whose  incomes  are  under  £150  a year — the  class,  that  is, 
who  live  on  weekly  wages — may  relieve  themselves  almost 
entirely  from  taxation  if  they  think  fit.” 

The  next  is  quoted  from  the  Alliance  News  (March  5, 
1881)  : 

“ In  an  address  to  the  ‘ratepayers  of  Toxteth  Park  and 
others  whom  it  may  concern,’  Mr.  Edward  Jones,  of  4, 
Amberley  Street,  Liverpool,  a member  of  the  Toxteth 
Board  of  Guai’dians,  says,  ‘ The  Guardians  of  Toxteth 
Park,  in  dealing  with  applications  for  relief  from  week  to 
week,  were  struck  by  the  large  number  of  these  cases 
which  came  from  a particular  district  of  the  township.  A 
return  was  therefore  ordered  of  the  exact  number  of 
applications  for  relief  during  a given  period,  from  that 
portion  of  the  township  to  the  north  of  Park  Street  and 
west  of  Park  Boad,  as  compared  with  the  applications 
from  the  rest  of  the  township.  These  returns  revealed 
the  “ startling  fact  ” that  two-thirds  of  our  pauperism 
came  from  this  district,  comprising  about  one-eighth  of 
the  area,  and  only  one-fourth  of  the  population  ; the  exact 
numbers  being,  from  the  district  marked  A,  with  heavy 
dark  tints  on  the  map,  911  applications  for  relief  ; from 
district  B,  542  ; and  from  district  C,  45,  in  the  same  period. 
The  amount  of  money  spent  in  liquor  in  district  A may  be 
gathered  from  the  fact  that  over  one  hundred  public- 
houses,  or  about  half  the  total  number  of  public-houses  in 
the  township,  are  maintained  and  doing  a more  or  less 
flourishing  trade  within  or  closely  abutting  upon  this  area. 


Address  by 
Mr.  Edward 
Jones,  of  the 
Toxteth 
Board  of 
Guardians. 


244 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Estimating  the  average  “weekly  takings  ” of  each  of  these 
public-houses  at  £20,  and  assuming  that  fully  one-half  of 
the  population  here  are  sober,  industrious  people,  who 
spend  little  or  nothing  on  drink,  it  may  be  taken  for 
granted  that  from  10s.  to  20s.  per  week  from  many  families 
goes  for  liquor.  How  many  struggling,  sober,  industrious 
families,  paying  poor  rates,  are  compelled  to  live  on  less 
than  those  receiving  parish  relief  spend  in  liquor  when 
they  can  get  it  ? The  direct  cost  to  the  township  of  this 
area,  in  poor  rates,  is  not  less  than  £10,000  per  annum,  or 
equal  to  6d.  in  the  pound  of  the  rates,  over  and  above  a 
very  liberal  allowance  for  pauperism.  To  this  may  be 
added  the  charge  for  extra  police  in  these  parts,  the  large  ! 
sums  distributed  in  private  charity,  and  the  hundred  other 
ways  in  which  the  thriftless  and  the  dissolute  manage  to 
impose  a heavy  burden  of  taxation,  voluntary  and  in- 
voluntary, upon  their  neighbour's.  The  money  cost  is  not 
the  only  or  the  worst  part  of  the  business.  Murders, 
stabbing,  wounding,  and  other  crimes  of  violence,  are  of 
frequent  occurrence  here.  The  slaughter  of  innocent 
babes,  smothered  by  their  drunken  mothers,  out-herods 
Herod.  The  death  rate  within  this  area,  if  published 
separately,  would  astonish  the  Health  Committee  and  the 
Town  Council  of  Liverpool,  and  would  stand  in  striking 
contrast  with  the  rate  of  mortality  in  the  portions  of  the 
township  without  public-houses,  which  averages  10  in  a 
1000  in  the  rural  district.  Here  it  would  probably  be  not 
less  than  40  per  1000.  Vice  and  immorality  from  these 
parts  crowd  our  workhouse  hospital,  which  must  soon  be 
enlarged,  at  the  cost  of  the  ratepayers,  and  there  is 
displayed  a state  of  things  too  revolting  for  description. 

. . . The  applications  for  parish  relief  are  few  and  far 
between,  and  these  few  from  the  streets  nearest  the  dark 
area,  though  a large  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  are  of 
the  artisan  and  labouring  class.  The  head  constable 
reports  that  his  officers  have  very  little  to  do  in  this 
district.  No  complaint  has  ever  been  heard  of  the  absence 
of  public-houses  in  the  district,  which  is  two  miles  long, 
and  nearly  the  same  distance  wide  in  its  longest  measure- 
ment. That  the  people  in  the  dark  area  do  not  wish 
public-houses  in  their  midst  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  they 
are  rapidly  migrating  into  the  bright  area,  and  that 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


245 


whenever  memorials  in  favour  of  Sunday  closing  of  public- 
houses,  and  other  restrictions,  are  got  up,  the  people  in 
the  dark  area  are  most  unanimous  in  signing  them.  A 
motion  for  memorializing  the  Government  in  favour  of 
a measure  for  reducing  the  number  of  public-houses  was 
supported  by  seven  members  of  the  Toxteth  Board  of 
Guardians,  while  eight  voted  against.’  ” 

And  the  same  journal  (January  7,  1882)  publishes  the 
following  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  John  Kirk,  D.D., 
Edinburgh  : — 

“ This  United  Kingdom  of  ours  is  threatened  with 
terrible  poverty.  The  plague  which  is  in  various  forms 
coming  upon  us  is  emphatically  national.  ...  A small 
number  of  people  are  becoming  enormously  rich,  while  the 
great  mass  of  the  community  is  becoming  rapidly  poor. 
. . . Especially  in  London  scores  are  dying  of  literal  starva- 
tion for  lack  of  food  to  eat.  ...  It  is  to  be  expected  that 
explanations  of  this  state  of  things  should  be  given,  but  it 
is  immensely  strange  that  the  most  obvious  of  all  should 
not  even  be  suffered  to  be  hinted  at  in  the  press,  in  the 
pulpit,  or  on  the  platform  ! . . . Above  one  hundred  and 
fifty  millions  of  sterling  money  a year  is  actually  being 
handed  over  by  the  masses  of  the  people  into  the  hands 
of  a few  families  for  worse  than  nothing  ! The  expenditure 
of  this  money  in  liquor  involves  far  more  than  an  equal 
loss  in  efficient  labour,  and  in  other  ways.  The  ignorance 
of  the  multitude  is  so  great,  the  fascination  of  the  liquor 
is  so  powerful,  the  huge  swindle  is  so  supported  by  law 
and  government,  and  the  stream  of  gold  is  so  enormous, 
that  it  is  ostracism  to  lay  it  bare  to  the  public  eye,  and 
yet  it  is  wonderful  that  it  should  be  possible  to  be  silent  on 
the  subject,  when  the  great  body  of  the  nation  is  rapidly 
sinking  into  helpless  poverty  by  this  iniquity  alone  ! Only 
look  at  the  subject  for  a few  moments.  Allow  this  liquor 
system  to  be  suppressed,  and  at  least  three  hundred 
millions  of  sterling  money  annually  will  remain  in  the 
ownership  of  the  mass  of  the  people.  Let  this  sum  as 
a capital  be  employed  as  it  is  employed  now  wherever 
liquor-selling  has  been  suppressed  ; let  this  wealth  accumu- 
late as  it  will,  and  must  do,  and  what  would  even  seven 
‘bad  harvests  ’ do  ? The  truth  is  palpable.  These  harvests 
would  not  give  the  people  serious  concern.  They  would 


Address  by 
the  Rev. 
John  Kirk. 


246 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


M r.  William 

Hoyle’s 

testimony. 


buy  up  our  own  farmers’  grain,  sucb  as  it  is,  at  a good 
price,  and  do  the  same  with  the  American  and  other 
grain.  All  would  prosper,  perhaps  with  the  solitary  excep- 
tion of  those  who  are  now  growing  rich  at  the  expense  of 
their  country’s  threatened  ruin.  . . . 

“ In  the  meantime,  the  subject  is  daily  becoming  one  of 
more  terrible  importance  to  the  great  mass  of  the  people. ' 
There  is  a fascination  in  alcohol  so  strong  that  its  sale  has 
only  to  be  introduced  into  a neighbourhood  to  make  it 
perfectly  sure  that  it  will  carry  everything  before  it.  You 
may  educate  and  civilize  as  you  can  ; you  may  evangelize 
in  the  best  possible  methods ; yet,  if  you  keep  up  the 
distribution  of  strong  drink  among  a people,  you  may  rob 
them  to  any  degree,  and  they  will  not  even  complain  ! It 
is  incredible  to  what  an  extent  the  brewer  and  distiller 
have  men  and  women  at  their  will — so  is  it  incredible  that 
a Government  can  levy  ten  shillings  of  a tax  on  a liquor 
that  does  not  quite  cost  one  shilling  and  fourpence.  But, 
however  incredible,  it  is  simple  truth  that  so  it  is  in  reality  ! 
The  very  men  who  take  the  grain  from  our  best  fields,  and 
convert  it  into  a fiery  liquid,  ruinous  to  soul  and  body,  are 
able  to  give  ten  shillings  out  of  every  eleven  shillings  and 
fourpence  to  what  is  called  ‘the  State,’  and  yet  to  make 
large  fortunes  out  of  the  remaining  sixteenpence ! They 
are  able,  too,  to  secure  such  a sentiment  among  a large 
and  influential  portion  of  the  community  as  surrounds 
their  amazing  traffic  with  a sort  of  halo  of  respectability ! 
And  yet  they  dare  not  risk  the  power  of  licence  for  that 
traffic  on  the  vote  of  the  ratepayers  ! They  dare  not  risk 
it  on  the  vote  even  of  drunkards  ! ” 

The  following  from  Mr.  William’s  Hoyle’s  pamphlet, 
Our  National  Resources  and  how  they  are  Wasted,  appeared 
in  the  Alliance  News  (October  27,  1883)  : — 

“ The  policy  has  been,  multiply  the  temptations  to  in- 
temperance, and  then  fine  the  drunkard  or  send  him  to 
prison.  If  he  went  on  drinking  till  he  or  those  dependent 
upon  him  were  impoverished,  let  him  be  packed  off  to  the 
workhouse.  If  by  their  dissipated  conduct  they  lost  their 
characters  and  became  vagrants,  needing  a night’s  lodging, 
the  policy  was  to  make  it  unpleasant  for  them,  and  so 
drive  them  to  barns,  brick-kilns,  hay -ricks,  or  anywhere 
else.  If,  when  maddened  by  drink,  or  when  impelled  by 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


247 


hunger,  they  committed  crime,  then  their  names  were  to 
be  put  upon  the  black  list,  enrolled  among  the  outcasts  of 
the  nation,  and  over  them  was  to  be  set  the  ever- watchful 
eye  of  the  policeman.  And  if  their  children  rambled  about 
the  streets  uncared  for,  they  were  to  be  sent  off  to  re- 
formatory schools,  where  they  would  be  supported  and 
trained  at  the  expense  of  the  good  citizens  of  the  com- 
munity, and  the  parents  relieved  from  the  burdens  and 
expense  of  their  charge,  and  thus  enabled  to  have  more 
money  and  freedom  wherewith  to  indulge  in  dissipation 
and  hurry  on  their  own  ruin.  Such  has  been  the  policy 
of  our  statesmen  during  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years,  and 
to  this  policy  we  may  attribute  three-fourths,  if  not  nine- 
tenths,  of  the  social  evils  that  so  grievously  affect  our  land. 

“ During  the  entire  period  of  the  recent  long  depression 
in  trade,  some  very  remarkable  economic  phenomena  have 
presented  themselves.  In  the  first  place,  the  warehouses 
of  the  country  have  been  crowded  with  goods  wanting 
customers,  and  side  by  side  with  these  there  have  been 
multitudes  of  persons  in  disti’ess  and  want,  needing  the 
goods  which  so  overcrowded  the  warehouses.  And  then, 
further,  there  have  been  the  banks  with  their  coffers 
glutted  with  money  seeking  to  be  employed  in  carrying 
out  the  purchase  and  the  transfer  of  stocks  in  the  ware- 
houses to  the  backs  and  the  homes  of  the  people  who  were 
in  want ; at  the  same  time  wages  have  been  comparatively 
high,  and  the  price  of  food  has  been  low,  thus  giving  a 
lai’ge  margin  of  the  nation’s  income  as  available  for  invest- 
ment in  manufactured  goods  ; and  yet  the  desired  trade 
has  not  come.  How  has  this  arisen  ? 

“ There  can  only  be  one  answer  given  to  this  question, 
viz.,  the  one  given  by  the  Economist  newspaper  in  its 
annual  trade  review  in  1876.  The  Economist  then  stated 
that  the  dulness  of  trade  arose  from  the  fact  that  from 
some  cause  or  other  the  means  of  consumers  had  become 
lessened ; or,  in  other  words,  people  had  become  so 
impoverished  as  to  have  no  money  with  which  to  buy  the 
goods. 

“What  was  it  that  had  impoverished  the  people? 
There  were  several  minor  causes  that  had  contributed  to 
this,  chief  among  which  were  the  bad  harvests  of  the 
country.  The  loss  from  this  source  was  variously  estimated 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


in  different  years  at  from  £20,000,000  to  £50,000,000 
per  annum  ; but  the  main  cause  of  impoverishment  was 
this  : the  money  which  ought  to  have  gone  into  the  tills 
of  the  grocer,  the  draper,  the  tailor,  the  furniture  dealer, 
etc.,  went  into  the  till  of  the  publican ; £136,000,000 
yearly  thus  spent,  and  another  £100,000,000  sacrificed  to 
atone  for  the  mischief  which  the  expenditure  of  the 
£136,000,000  caused,  could  have  no  other  result  than  to 
produce  depression  in  trade.  There  was  every  element  of 
trade  prosperity  present,  except  the  buying  element,  but, 
unfortunately,  that  element,  instead  of  applying  itself  to 
the  purchase  of  the  goods  which  filled  the  warehouses, 
wasted  its  resources  at  the  public-house  ; for  instance,  £4 
per  head  were  spent  yearly  in  chink,  and  but  eight  shillings 
on  cotton  goods,  and  so  people  were  in  poverty  and  rags, 
and  manufacturers  could  find  no  market  for  their  goods. 

“ The  question  may  arise  in  the  minds  of  some  of  my 
audience — What  does  it  matter  whether  the  money  be 
spent  in  drink  or  in  manufactured  goods,  or  in  house- 
building, or  in  improving  land,  or,  indeed,  in  any  way? 
for,  it  is  said,  does  not  the  money  circulate  in  the  country 
in  one  case  just  as  much  as  in  the  other  ? Let  us  look  at 
this  point  for  a moment. 

“ I will  suppose  the  case  of  one  hundred  men,  each 
earning  £2  weekly.  On  an  average  the  men  spend  12s. 
per  week  each  in  drink,  which,  unfortunately,  for  many 
men  is  not  extravagant.  At  the  end  of  the  year  these  one 
hundred  men  will  have  spent  £3120.  Well,  it  is  said,  the 
£3120  is  not  lost,  for  it  is  circulating  through  the  country, 
and,  therefore,  what  does  it  matter  how  it  is  spent  ? 

“ Suppose,  however,  that  instead  of  spendiug  the  12s. 
weekly  in  drink,  they  put  the  money  into  a building  club 
and  invest  it  in  building  houses,  the  money  would  build 
twenty  houses  worth  £156  each,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
year  the  £3120  would  be  circulating  in  the  country  just  as 
was  the  case  when  spent  in  drink.  In  the  one  case  there 
are  £3120  circulating,  plus  nothing ; in  the  other  case 
there  are  £3120  circulating,  plus  twenty  houses  added  to 
the  wealth  of  the  nation. 

“ Let  us  pursue  the  comparison  further.  As  a result 
of  the  £3120  spent  in  drink,  there  would  probably  be 
some  hundreds  of  cases  of  drunkenness ; there  would  be 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


249 


neglect  and  loss  of  work ; there  would  often  be  cruelty 
and  misery  at  home ; there  would  be  headaches,  sickness, 
accidents ; there  would  be  neglect  of  families,  pauperism, 
crime,  vagrancy ; there  would  probably  be  some  addition 
of  persons  to  the  unemployed  population  of  the  country, 
and  maybe  also  some  parts  of  the  families  of  the  hundred 
men  would  find  their  way  down  amongst  the  lapsed 
masses  of  society.  And  there  would  further  be  the  costs 
and  burdens  resulting  from  this  condition  of  things ; and 
the  waste  of  labour  and  cost  of  striving  to  neutralize  and 
remedy  them.  It  is  a low  estimate  to  assume  that  from 
these  causes  £2000  would  be  lost  to  society,  in  addition  to 
the  £3120  of  direct  expenditure,  or  over  £5000  in  all. 

“ Let  us  follow  the  other  expenditure  in  its  results. 
In  the  first  place,  we  find  some  twenty  or  more  men  set  to 
work  to  build  the  houses.  These,  of  coui’se,  would  earn 
weekly  wages,  and  at  the  end  of  the  week,  themselves  or 
their  wives  would  be  off  to  the  shops  to  purchase  goods 
for  their  families ; and  besides  this  there  would  be  the 
absence  of  the  drunkenness  and  misery  which  resulted 
when  the  money  was  spent  in  drink. 

“ In  one  case  we  have  £3120  circulated,  plus  a further 
indirect  loss  of  some  £2000,  all  of  which  is  abstracted  from 
trade,  plus  resulting  misery  that  is  appalling. 

“ In  the  other  case  we  get  £3120  circulated,  plus 
twenty  houses  added  to  the  nation’s  stock  of  wealth  ; plus 
employment  found  for  twenty  or  more  workmen ; plus 
increased  trade  for  the  shopkeepers  and  manufacturers  ; 
plus  a diminished  taxation  owing  to  the  absence  of  the 
drink  evil ; plus  happiness  to  the  families  concerned, 
instead  of  misery  and  maybe  ruin. 

“ In  order  fully  to  appreciate  the  economic  influence  of 
these  two  courses  of  action,  we  must  carry  the  comparison 
into  the  second  year.  The  one  hundred  men  who  kept  off 
the  drink  start  the  year  with  twenty  houses,  valued  at 
£3120,  whilst  the  others  have  nothing.  If  these  houses 
are  let  at  4.s.  each  weekly,  they  will  yield  £200  per 
annum,  or  it  is  an  addition  to  the  men’s  income  of  £2  each 
yearly,  for  which  the  men  do  not  work.  The  third  year 
it  would  be  more,  and  the  fourth  year  more  again,  and  so 
wealth  would  go  on  increasing,  the  demand  for  labour 
would  correspondingly  grow,  and  along  with  both  there 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 

would  be  comfort  and  plenty  instead  of  misery  and 
ruin. 

“ A moment’s  reflection  will  start  tbe  problem  in  the 
mind  of  every  thoughtful  person ; if  to  redeem  an  ex- 
penditure of  £3120  from  drink  and  transfer  it  to  other 
and  legitimate  channels,  so  much  of  economic  and  social 
good  results,  what  would  have  been  the  sum  of  the 
economic  and  social  good  which  would  have  resulted  from 
the  redemption  of  the  whole  of  the  drink  expenditure  of 
£136,000,000  yearly  during  the  last  ten  years  ? I fancy 
that  in  such  a case  we  should  not  have  been  here  to-night 
discussing  problems,  social,  economic,  etc.,  for  the  prob- 
lems would  have  been  solved,  and  the  evils  associated 
with  them  would  have  disappeared. 

“ So  far  as  economic  result  goes,  waste  of  wealth  is  as 
hurtful  to  trade  and  to  the  development  of  material  pro- 
gress when  it  occurs  in  the  spending  of  money  as  in  the 
production  of  goods.  For  example,  if  a man  with  an 
income  of,  say,  25s.  weekly,  throws  5s.  of  it  into  the  sea,  it 
will  be  clear  that  he  might  as  well  only  have  an  income  of 
20s. ; or  if  he  does  what  is  the  same  thing,  squanders  it  in 
a way  that  yields  him  no  return  of  good,  he  would  be 
quite  as  well  off  financially  and  economically  if  his  wages 
were  reduced  to  20s.  per  week  ; provided  no  portion  of  his 
income  were  squandered  away. 

“ But  if  the  man  spends  his  money  in  a way  that  not 
only  yields  him  no  return  of  good,  but  which,  instead  of 
good,  entails  evil  upon  him,  upon  his  family,  and  perhaps 
upon  the  community  at  large,  then  by  the  extent  of  the 
losses  and  evils  which  result  from  such  misspending  of 
money,  to  that  extent  is  the  waste  of  wealth  still  further 
increased.  If  we  assume  that  the  damage  resulting  in 
equal  in  extent,  say,  to  four  shillings,  it  will  be  clear  that 
society  will  be  no  better  off  than  if  the  man’s  income  were 
only  sixteen  shillings,  for  the  simple  I’eason  that,  besides 
the  five  shillings  lost  in  the  spending,  there  is  four 
shillings  lost  in  damage  done. 

“ It  is  an  admitted  fact  in  political  economy  that  labour 
is  the  chief,  if  not  the  only  source  of  value,  or,  in  other 
words,  of  wealth.  As  a rule,  things  are  valuable  in  pro- 
portion to  the  cost  of  their  production.  It  will  follow, 
therefore,  that  the  labour  of  one  week,  if  the  income  there- 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


251 


from  be  properly  expended,  will  create  a demand  for  the 
labour  of  the  succeeding  week.  If,  therefore,  there  were 
only  the  current  income  fund  to  fall  back  upon,  this,  if 
properly  expended,  would  keep  the  industrial  ball  rolling ; 
but  when  we  remember  that  there  is  an  accumulated 
capital  that  seeks  employment,  and  when  we  know  that 
money  rightly  laid  out  and  labour  rightly  applied  are 
constantly  reproducing  themselves,  and  adding  to  the 
capital  stock  which  needs  to  find  employment  in  purchasing 
labour,  or  the  products  of  labour,  which  is  the  same  thing, 
it  will  be  clear  that  there  must  be  something  terribly  wrong 
in  our  economical  arrangements  and  habits,  or  it  would 
not  be  possible  for  pauperism  and  destitution  to  have  a 
place  in  our  midst. 

“ But  Avhen  one-fourth  or  one-third  of  the  nation’s 
income  is  applied  to  purposes  that  yield  no  return  of  good, 
but  often  of  harm  ; when  we  spend  £136,000,000  yearly  in 
drink,  and  sacrifice  £100,000,000  more  to  make  good  the 
mischief  which  the  drink  does ; and  when  in  many  minor 
ways  we  add  to  this  waste,  the  total  becomes  a great  one, 
and  is  a constant  draft  upon  the  trading  or  buying  fund  of 
the  nation,  and  so  it  becomes  impossible  that  the  industrial 
ball  can  be  kept  rolling,  inasmuch  as  the  fund  needed  to 
secure  this  is  so  largely  wasted ; for  we  cannot  both  waste 
it  and  use  it ; and  we  may  try  to  amend  our  poor  laws,  we 
may  increase  the  repressive  character  of  our  criminal  and 
vagrant  laws,  we  may  seek  to  get  better  dwellings  for  the 
working  classes,  we  may  labour  to  find  work  for  our  un- 
employed population,  or  reform  our  land  laws,  and  improve 
the  waste  lands  of  the  country — all  good  and  many  of  them 
very  good  in  their  way — but  they  can  never  compensate  for 
the  waste  of  so  much  of  the  nation’s  income  and  wealth. 

“ If  my  hearers  have  been  able  to  follow  the  facts  and 
arguments  which  have  been  adduced,  they  will  probably 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  social  questions  which 
give  to  our  statesmen  and  philanthropists  so  much  concern 
would  have  no  existence  were  it  not  for  causes  that  we 
ourselves  set  in  operation.  The  question  of  how  to  secure 
good  trade,  ensure  fair  and  steady  wages,  provide  work  for 
our  unemployed  population,  remove  the  inequalities  of 
wealth  and  poverty  which  exist,  how  to  banish  pauperism 
and  vagrancy,  and  largely  reduce  crime  and  lunacy,  how  to 


252 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Letter  by 
Miss  Mary 
Bayley. 


lift,  up  from  degradation  the  lapsed  masses  of  our  country, 
how  to  secure  better  dwellings  for  our  working  classes, 
with  other  problems,  are  all  hound  up  with  the  question  of 
the  drinking  habits  of  the  nation ; remedy  this,  and  all  the 
others  will  practically  disappear.” 

Miss  Mary  Bayley  writes  in  the  Daily  News  (November 
19,  1883)— 

“ Those  of  us  who  have  long  watched  the  steadily  in- 
creasing horrors  of  the  homes  of  our  London  poor  are 
deeply  thankful  for  the  prominence  you  have  lately  given  to 
this  subject.  Your  contributor  says  with  truth  that  ‘no 
single  reform,  no  single  line  of  effort  will  meet  the  evil ; ’ hut 
as  regards  both  the  small  earnings  mentioned,  and  the 
doubt  expressed  whether  even  comfortable  incomes  would 
avail  much  as  things  now  are,  I should  like  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  results  of  increased  income  in  the  past,  and  to 
causes  now  adding  to  pressure  in  the  labour  market.  The 
five  years  which  preceded  1877  were  a time  of  unusual 
prosperity  in  the  way  of  earning  money  ; work  was  com- 
paratively plentiful,  and  wages  high.  During  those  years 
the  increase  in  the  consumption  of  intoxicating  drink  was 
enormous ; the  home  consumption  of  cotton  goods  went 
down  eight  per  cent.  Those  who  watched  the  homes  of 
the  poor  during  those  dreadful  years  state  that  their  moral 
condition  then  fell  to  a lower  point  than  had  ever  been 
known  before.  There  were  happy  exceptions  not  a few ; 
but  to  the  vast  majority  the  large  sums  earned  brought 
rather  a diminution  than  an  increase  of  all  that  is  worthy 
the  name  of  prosperity.  Turning  now  to  the  subject  of 
famine  wages  and  competition  for  employment,  even  here 
the  door  of  prosperity  is  bolted  and  barred,  not  by  want 
of  resources,  but  by  our  vices.  When  I return  from 
homes  whose  belongings,  all  put  together,  would  once  ha  re 
failed  to  realize  half  a crown,  and  see  that,  though  only 
receiving  the  same  wages  as  before,  the  reclaimed  occupants 
have  become  customers  to  the  ironmonger,  cabinet-maker, 
crockery  shop,  linendraper,  etc.,  I am  at  a loss  to  conceive 
how  great  would  he  the  natural  increase  in  demand  for 
labour  of  all  kinds  if  this  change  should  become  general. 
And  when  reading  the  heartrending  statistics  of  ill-paid 
labour  done  by  women,  let  us  not  forget  that  there  are 
tens  of  thousands  of  married  women  crowding  up  the 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


253 


labour  market  who  ought  never  to  he  there  at  all.  I have 
persuaded  very  many  women  to  give  up  all  paid  labour, 
and  to  devote  themselves  entirely  to  their  families.  I can 
recall  no  instance  where  this  change  was  not  advantageous, 
even  pecuniarily,  for  the  waste  and  destruction  caused  by 
neglected  children  are  indescribable.  Where  the  wife  has 
to  earn  money  the  children  are  usually  in  rags.  Just  a 
few  indispensable  articles  of  clothing  are  purchased  ready- 
made at  a slop-shop,  at  a price  so  low  one  wonders  how 
anything  can  have  been  paid  for  making  up.  The  mother 
at  home  can  encourage  honest  trade  by  buying  decent 
material  which  she  makes  up  herself.  But  how  is  all  this 
possible  while  thousands  upon  thousands  of  pounds  arc 
swept  into  publicans’  tills  every  Saturday  and  Sunday 
night  P The  sums  that  are  still  forthcoming  to  procure 
intoxicating  drink  appear  to  me  to  disprove  your  contribu- 
tor’s statement  that  low  wages  are  the  main  root  of  our 
present  distress.  They  are  a fruit,  though  bearing  seed, 
it  is  true,  and  thus  continually  dropping  fresh  roots.” 

In  his  papers  on  “ How  the  Poor  live,”  published  during 
the  summer  of  1883  in  The  Pictorial  World,  Mr.  George  R. 
Sims  says — 

“ The  gin  palaces  flourish  in  the  slums,  and  fortunes 
are  made  out  of  men  and  women  who  seldom  know  where 
to-morrow’s  meal  is  coming  from.  ...  A copper  or  two 
often  obtained  by  pawning  the  last  rag  that  covers  the 
shivering  children  on  the  bare  floor  at  home,  will  buy 
enough  vitriol  madness  to  send  a woman  home  so  besotted 
that  the  wretchedness,  the  anguish,  the  degradation  that 
await  her  there  have  lost  their  grip.  ...  If  I were  asked  to 
say  offhand  what  was  the  greatest  curse  of  the  poor,  and 
what  was  the  greatest  blessing,  I think  my  answer  to  the 
first  query  would  be  the  public-house,  and  to  the  second, 
the  hospital.” 

And  this  from  the  Daily  News  (November  20, 1883)  : — 

“ Speaking  on  Sunday  night  at  the  Great  Central  Hall, 
Shoreditch,  which  is  within  a stone’s  throw  of  some  of  the 
London  ‘ slums,’  Mr.  Caine,  M.P.,  said  that  the  question  of 
housing  the  London  poor  was  one,  he  thought,  in  which 
Parliament  could  help,  not  by  building  houses  at  the  cost 
of  the  State,  but  in  removing  as  far  as  possible  the  causes 
which  resulted  in  the  evils  now  being  so  widely  discussed. 


George  R. 
Sims  on 
“ How  the 
Poor  live.” 


The  testi- 
mony of 
Mr.  Caine, 
M.P. 


254 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Canon 
Farrar’s 
sermon  on 
drink  in 
Westminster 
Abbey,  Nov. 
19,  1883. 


George  R. 
Sims  on 
“ Horrible 
London.” 


Drink  made  the  poor  live  where  they  did.  Tales  of  poverty 
had  been  told — how  people  had  to  make  match-boxes  at 
2| ;d.  per  gross,  how  women  had  to  work  fourteen  or  fifteen 
hours  per  day  at  shirt  work  ere  they  could  earn  a shilling, 
how  at  waistcoat-making  people  could  not  get  a living. 
Why  was  it  ? Because  trade  was  depressed,  was  the 
answer.  Why  was  trade  depressed  P Because  those  who 
wanted  to  buy  could  not  buy.  Who  were  those  who 
wanted  to  buy  and  could  not  ? People  who  took  their 
money  to  the  public-house  instead  of  laying  the  same  out  in 
necessaries.  If  London  next  day  became  teetotal,  £200,000 
per  week  would  be  available.  Two  hundred  thousand 
families  might  have  a pound  per  week  each  added  to  their 
incomes.” 

On  the  occasion  of  the  twenty-first  anniversary  of  the 
Church  of  England  Temperance  Society,  November  19, 
1883,  a noble  sermon  on  the  drink  evil  was  preached  in 
Westminster  Abbey  by  Canon  Earrar. 

“We  have  heard  much  in  these  days,”  said  he,  “of 
1 Horrible  London,’  and  of  the  bitter  cry  of  its  abject. 
What  makes  these  slums  so  horrible  ? I answer  with 
certainty,  and  with  the  confidence  of  one  who  Jcnoius — drink  ! 
What  is  the  remedy  ? I tell  you  every  remedy  you  attempt 
will  be  a miserable  failure.  I tell  the  nation  with  convic- 
tion founded  on  experience  that  there  will  he  no  remedy  till 
you  save  these  outcasts  from  the  temptation  of  drink.  Leave 
the  drink,  and  you  might  build  them  palaces  in  vain ; 
leave  the  drink,  and  before  the  year  is  over  your  palaces 
would  be  reeking  with  dirt  and  squalor,  with  infamy  and 
crime.”  * 

Says  Mr.  Sims,  in  his  paper  on  “ Horrible  London  ” in 
the  Daily  News  (November  23,  1883) — 

“ It  is  not  fair  to  prove  by  facts  and  statistics  the  evil 
of  over-population  and  the  evil  of  low  wages,  and  to  shrink 
from  revealing  the  evil  of  drink.  That  has  to  be  removed 
as  wTell  as  the  others,  and  must  be  taken  into  account. 
. . . It  is  only  when  one  probes  this  wound  that  one  finds 
how  deep  it  is.  Much  as  I have  seen  of  the  drink  evil,  it 
was  not  until  I came  to  study  one  special  district,  with  a 
view  of  ascertaining  how  far  the  charge  of  drunkenness 
could  be  maintained  against  the  poor  as  a body,  that  I had 
* Church  of  England  Temperance  Chronicle,  Nov.  24,  1883. 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


255 


any  idea  of  the  terrible  extent  to  which  this  cause  of 
poverty  prevails. 

“ Come  to  a common  lodging-house,  and  see  what  class 
of  people  fill  the  beds  at  fourpence  a night.  Poor 
labourers  ? Yes.  Loafers  and  criminals  P Yes.  But 
hundreds  of  men  who  have  once  been  in  first-class  posi- 
tions, and  who  have  had  every  chance  of  doing  well,  are 
to  be  found  there  also. 

“ For  my  purpose  I will  merely  take  the  cases  which 
have  drifted  to  the  slum  lodging-house  through  drink. 

“ The  following  have  all  passed  recently  through  one 
common  lodging-house  in  one  of  the  most  notorious  slums 
of  London  : — 

“ A paymaster  of  the  Royal  Navy. 

“ Two  men  who  had  been  college  chums  at  Cambridge, 
and  met  accidentally  here  one  night,  both  in  the  last  stage 
of  poverty.  One  had  kept  a pack  of  hounds,  and  succeeded 
to  a large  fortune. 

“ A physician’s  son,  himself  a doctor,  when  lodging 
here  sold  fusees  on  the  Strand. 

“ A clergyman  who  had  taken  high  honours.  Last 
seen  in  the  Borough,  drunk,  followed  by  jeering  boys. 

“ A commercial  traveller  and  superintendent  of  a 
Sunday  school. 

“ A member  of  the  Stock  Exchange — found  to  be 
suffering  from  delirium  tremens — removed  to  work- 
house. 

“ The  brother  of  a clergyman  and  scholar  of  European 
repute  died  eventually  in  this  slum.  Friends  had  ex- 
hausted every  effort  to  reclaim  him.  Left  wife  and  three 
beautiful  children  living  in  a miserable  den  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood. Wife  drinking  herself  to  death.  Children 
rescued  by  friends  and  provided  for. 

“ Brother  of  a vicar  of  a large  London  parish — died  in 
the  slum. 

“ These  are  all  cases  which  have  passed  through  one 
common  lodging-house.  What  would  the  others  show 
had  we  the  same  opportunity  of  knowing  their  customers  ? 

These  people  have  all  been  forced  back  on  a rookery 
through  drink— sober,  they  need  never  have  sunk  so  low 
as  that.” 

The  following  is  quoted  from  the  “ Dustman’s  speech  ” The  “Dust- 


256 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


man’s 
speech  ” in 
Exeter  Hall 
(Nov.  21, 
1883). 


The  con- 
dition of 
drunkards’ 
children. 


at  the  Working-men’s  Meeting,  November  21,  1883,  in 
Exeter  Hall : — 

“ I say  again,  as  a working  man,  that  we  have  had 
too  much  talk  about  a working  man  being  robbed  of 
his  liberty  if  he  gives  up  intoxicating  drink : that  is 
exactly  when  he  gets  his  liberty.  I say,  God  bless  the 
publicans  and  the  distillers,  and  may  they  soon  lose  the 
situation  that  they  now  have,  for  life  to  them  is  death  to 
us.  I will  show  them  why.  If  they  lost  their  situations, 
there  would  be  more  custom  for  other  shopkeepers,  and 
the  surroundings  of  neighbourhoods  would  be  improved. 
If  there  is  anything  that  is  interfering  with  the  liberty 
of  the  people  at  the  present  day,  it  is  the  consumption  of 
intoxicating  drink.” 

As  to  the  children  of  drunkards,  the  Alliance  News 
(September  27,  1879)  says — 

“ Attention  has  of  late  been  turned  by  correspondents 
of  Manchester  to  the  poor  children  who  are  forced  to  pick 
up  a living  in  the  streets  at  most  untimely  hours.  The 
writer  of  a letter  in  the  Manchester  Guardian,  for  example, 
recounts  how  within  half  an  hour  of  midnight  he  was 
accosted  by  a lad  of  about  eight  years  of  age,  who  desired 
him  to  buy  a box  of  matches.  The  lad  was  crying  bitterly, 
and  followed  the  writer  a long  way,  beseeching  him  to 
give  him  a penny  for  the  box.  Having  been  cheated 
several  times  by  children  affecting  great  distress,  the 
writer  ordered  him  rather  gruffly  to  begone ; and  he  slunk 
away,  sobbing  in  a manner  which  went  to  the  very  heart. 
Conscience  compelled  the  hearer  to  turn  back  and  question 
the  boy.  He  replied  through  his  tears  that  he  dared  not 
go  home,  because  his  mother  would  ‘ leather  ’ him,  as  he 
had  bad  bad  luck  that  day.  This  precious  mother,  it 
seems,  had  given  him  three-halfpence  in  the  morning,  and 
told  him  that  he  must  not  return  until  he  had  earned 
sevenpence  halfpenny,  or  else  he  would  ‘ catch  it.  He 
invested  one  penny  of  this  capital  in  two  halfpenny  boxes 
of  matches,  which  he  sold  in  the  course  of  the  day  for 
one  penny  each.  Then  he  bought  another  two,  but  had 
only  managed  to  dispose  of  one  of  them,  leaving  him  at 
that  late  hour  with  only  twopence  halfpenny  and  a box  of 
matches.  His  little  brother  had  gone  home  before  him. 
and  he  could  not  help  crying,  as  his  mother  always 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


257 


‘ leathered  ’ him  if  he  did  not  come  home  with  the  money 
in  time.  The  lad  was  covered  with  rags  and  tatters  from 
head  to  foot,  but  he  had  an  intelligent  face,  and  spoke 
both  correctly  and  modestly.  After  rewarding  him  for  his 
information,  the  writer  turned  homeward,  meditating  o^he 
horrible  fact  that,  with  all  our  civilization,  there  silmild 
exist  parents  who  enslave  their  children,  and  deliberately 
make  their  lives  a blight  to  them  and  a curse  to  society. 

“ Subsequent  revelations  and  reports  of  other  letter 
writers  have  shown  beyond  all  doubt  that  children  thus 
abused  always  have  parents  who  spend  most  of  their 
substance  in  drink.  The  child  ragged  and  ill-used  is  ever 
the  drunkard’s  child.  Education,  clothing,  food,  home 
care,  all  are  swallowed  down  with  the  drink,  and  the  poor 
child  is  sent  out  with  curses  and  threats  to  force  sales  on 
a compassionate  public,  instead  of  being  folded  at  home  in 
the  arms  of  parental  love.  The  philanthropists,  whose 
feelings  are  shocked  on  the  discovery  of  so  much  cruelty, 
at  once  set  to  work  to  devise  some  petty  ameliorations  and 
palliatives.  The  children  must,  forsooth,  be  taken  from 
their  parents,  and  thrust  into  industrial  schools.  Or  there 
must  be  a law  passed  forbidding  children’s  sale  of  matches 
or  papers  in  the  streets  after  a certain  hour  in  the  evening. 
All  the  while  the  truth  is  overlooked,  that  so  sure  as 
the  existing  cases  of  parental  cruelty  and  of  children’s 
nocturnal  street-cries  are  dealt  with,  a new  crop  of 
children,  equally  wretched,  and  equally  needing  deliver- 
ance from  their  parents,  will  arise  to  point  the  linger  of 
scorn  at  the  labours  of  the  philanthropist. 

“ When  a tree  is  evil,  and  brings  forth  evil  fruit  in 
ceaseless  profusion,  they  do  nothing  who  confine  their 
efforts  to  the  fruit.  Clear  away  one  crop,  another  still 
succeeds ; and  so  it  will  be  till  Philanthropy,  tired  out, 
folds  her  hands  and  sits  down  in  sheer  despair.  But  to 
kill  the  root  is  to  cut  off  the  fruit ; and  they  who  seek  to 
stop  the  sad  fruit  of  drunken  cruelty  to  children  must  go 
down  under  the  cruelty,  which  is  the  fruit,  to  the  drunken- 
ness, which  is  the  stem  of  the  tree,  and  again  below  that 
to  the  liquor  traffic,  which  is  the  root.  Until  this  is  done 
nothing  is  done.  The  bitter  crop  removed,  renews  itself. 
The  hellish  bough  is  torn  away  from  the  tree  for  a 
moment ; but  uno  avulso,  non  deficit  alter.” 

s 


258 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Comparison 
between  the 
revenue  re- 
turns from 
drink  in 
prosperous 
and  un- 
prosperous 
years. 


Address  by 

Cardinal 

Manning. 


Important 
evidence  of 
Charles 


Perhaps  the  best  and  most  conclusive  proof  that  drink 
causes  poverty,  infinitely  more  than  poverty  causes  drink, 
is  seen  by  a comparison  of  the  revenue  returns  in  prosperous 
and  unprosperous  years. 

In  the  measure  that  England  is  prosperous  the  drink 
bill  increases ; on  the  other  hand,  in  the  measure  that 
trade  and  wages  are  depressed  and  the  country  poorer 
thereby,  the  drink  bill  diminishes ; but  if  poverty  were  the 
cause  of  drink,  it  would  seem  as  if  this  would  be  exactly 
reversed,  i.e.,  in  years  of  prosperity  there  should  be  less 
intemperance,  and  vice  versa. 

“ Can  it  be  for  a moment  imagined  that  this  great 
commercial  country,  so  wise  and  so  skilful  in  all  finance, 
in  all  investments,  and  with  its  eyes  open,  can  go  on  year 
by  year  wasting  a hundred  and  forty  millions  of  money  in 
the  production  of  intoxicating  drink,  which  when  drunk  is 
gone  ? Can  there  be  a more  complete  waste  ? Expend  it 
in  the  drainage  of  England  and  the  culture  of  the  land, 
and  there  would  be  bread  for  the  hungry  mouths  of  the 
people.  Expend  it  in  manufacture  of  cloth,  and  there 
would  be  no  man  and  no  child  without  a coat  upon  his 
back.  Expend  it  in  the  building  of  houses  fit  for  human 
habitation,  and  there  would  not  be  a working  man  and 
his  family  without  a roof  over  his  head.  We  talk  of 
profitable  investments,  and  then  waste  a hundred  and 
thirty  millions  in  the  most  unprofitable  investment  that 
can  be  conceived  by  the  imagination  of  man.  Nay,  I will 
go  further.  It  is  not  only  waste.  It  has  a harvest.  It 
is  a great  sowing  broadcast.  And  what  springs  from  the 
furrow  ? Deaths ; mortality  in  every  form ; disease  of 
every  kind ; crime  of  every  dye ; madness  of  every  intensity  ; 
misery  beyond  the  imagination  of  man;  sin,  which  it  sur- 
passes the  imagination  to  conceive.”  * 

That  poverty,  even  when  honourable  and  averse  to 
drink,  can  be  coerced  by  its  dire  necessities  into  filling 
the  publican’s  till  is  seen  in  the  digest  of  the  Parliamentary 
evidence  on  Drunkenness  in  1834. 

“ (Charles  Saunders  called  in  and  examined.) 

“ 333.  What  is  your  occupation  ? — Coal-whipper. 


* From  an  address  on  temperance  delivered  at  Newcastle-on- 
Tvne,  by  Cardinal  Manning,  and  reported  in  the  Alliance  News,  Sep- 
tember 9,  18S2. 


SOCIAL  RESULTS 


259 


“ 334.  Have  the  goodness  to  state  to  the  committee 
the  manner  in  which  coal-whippers  are  engaged  and  paid. 
■ — I have  been  in  the  habit  of  obtaining  a living  by  coal- 
whipping for  the  last  ten  years.  When  I want  employ- 
ment (me  and  the  likes  of  me,  of  course)  I have  to  go  to 
the  publican  to  get  a job,  to  ask  him  for  a job ; and  he 
tells  me  to  go  and  sit  down  and  he  will  give  me  an  answer 
by-and-by.  I go  and  sit  down,  and  if  I have  twopence  in 
my  pocket,  ofj  course  I am  obliged  to  spend  it,  with  a view 
of  getting  a job;  and  probably,  when  two  or  three  hours 
have  elapsed,  by  that  time  there  is  about  fifty  or  sixty 
people  come  on  the  same  errand  to  the  same  person,  for  a 
job.  He  keeps  us  three  or  four  hours  there;  and  then  he 
comes  out,  and  he  looks  round  among  us,  and  he  knows 
those  well  that  can  drink  the  most,  and  those  are  the 
people  that  obtain  employment  first.  Those  that  cannot 
drink  a great  deal,  and  think  more  of  their  family  than 
others  do,  cannot  obtain  any  employment ; those  that 
drink  the  most  get  the  most  employment.  When  the  men 
are  made  up  for  the  ship,  we  go  to  work  the  next  day 
morning ; but  we  have  to  take  what  the  publican  calls 
the  allowance,  such  as  a quartern  of  rum  or  three  half- 
quarterns,  or  a pot  of  beer ; then  they  have  to  take  a pot 
of  beer  off  in  a bottle  on  board — what  lie  calls  beer,  but  not 
fit  for  a man  to  drink  generally  speaking ; what  I call 
poison.  I have  actually  teemed  it  overboard  myself,  before 
I could  drink  it ; I could  not  drink  it,  although  I have 
been  sweating  and  as  thirsty  as  a man  could  be,  aud  have 
put  it  overboard,  and  gone  and  dipped  my  bottle  in  a 
bucket  of  water. 

“337.  In  the  after  part  of  the  day,  when  your  work 
was  over,  where  did  you  go  then  ? — Then  when  we  had 
done  our  day’s  work  we  came  on  shore,  and  we  had  to  go 
into  the  house  again ; and  perhaps  we  might  want  a 
shilling  or  two  to  get  our  families  a little  support.  The 
landlord  would  tell  us  to  go  and  sit  down  in  the  taproom, 
and  he  would  give  us  some  by-and-by,  and  he  would  keep 
us  there  till  nine  or  ten  at  night;  fii’st  we  would  go  for 
a pint  or  a pot , to  see  whether  he  was  getting  ready,  for 
we  dared  not  go  empty  handed,  without  a pot  or  a pint, 
or  to  call  for  something  by  way  of  excuse.  After  keeping 
us  there  until  nine  or  ten  at  night,  then  he  would  give  us 
half  a crown  or  three  shillings. 


Saunders 
before  the 
Parlia- 
mentary 
Committee 
on  Drink  in 
1834. 


260 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Report  of 
the  special 
sanitaryj 
commis- 
sioner of  the 
Lancet  in 
1872. 


“ 340.  What  would  have  happened  if  you  had  refused 
to  spend  money  in  drink  P — Then  we  could  have  no  employ- 
ment ; and,  moreover,  if  you  had  had  what  you  thought 
was  requisite,  if  he  did  not  think  it  was  sufficient,  he 
would  add  more  than  what  yon  had  actually  contracted 
for ; and  if  you  refused  to  pay  this,  and  said,  ‘ I have  not 
had  so  much,  I won’t  pay  it  ’ — ‘ Oh,  won’t  you  ? If  you 
do  not,  here  is  your  money  what  you  say  it  is ; go  out  and 
never  come  in  here  again.’ 

“ 341.  Have  you  known  anybody  refused  employment 
because  they  would  not  contribute  to  the  publican’s  demand 
for  drink  ? — Yes  ; I could  find  fifty. 

“ 342.  Who  have  lost  their  employment  because  they 
would  not  drink  so  much  as  the  publican  wished  ? — Yes, 
I could. 

“ 343.  Could  you  not  engage  yourself  to  the  captain  of 
the  ship  without  going  to  the  publican  P — Yo ; for  the 
publicans  are  some  of  them  shipowners,  and  they  are  all 
intermixed  through  the  trade  by  one  thing  and  another, 
so  that  the  captain  or  owner  of  the  ship  gives  the  favour 
to  the  publican  to  employ  the  whippers.” 

A practical  illustration  of  the  degradation  brought  about 
by  drink  and  poverty  combined  is  furnished  in  the  report 
of  the  special  sanitary  commissioner  of  the  Lancet,  made  in 
1872,  in  which  the  social  condition  of  the  poor  at  Liverpool 
is  thus  described: — * 

“ There  is  here  a form  of  poverty  which  can  neither  be 
coaxed  nor  coerced;  fines  are  useless,  imprisonment  vain. 
There  are  upwards  of  six  thousand  cellars  occupied  by 
permission  of  the  law,  where  at  night  drunkenness  and 
dirt,  wretchedness  and  rags  beggar  description.  The  air 
is  redolent  with  broken  sewers  and  human  ordure ; it  is 
polluted  with  odours  of  filthy  persons,  foul  rags,  and 
stinking  fish.  The  very  walls  exhale  a stench  of  vermin 
and  contagion.  In  not  one  room  in  ten  is  there  a bed- 
stead, in  not  one  a wholesome  bed.  The  inmates  lie 
upon  the  floor,  from  which  they  are  separated  by  a bit  of 
straw  or  a bundle  of  dirty  rags.  Mothers  and  sons, 
fathers  and  daughters,  brothers  and  sisters,  relations  and 
strangers  of  both  sexes,  lie  indiscriminately  together,  many 

* Since  this  date  the  sanitary  condition  of  Liverpool  slums  has 
been  much  improved. 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


261 


of  them  all  but  naked,  locked  in  each  others’  arms  for 
warmth.” 

In  this  fearful  picture  we  see  a condition — probably  The  meaning 
chiefly  due  to  intemperance,  certainly  greatly  intensified  and  “ gu™1301'4 
rendered  hopeless  by  it — in  which  all  distinctions  by  which  degradation, 
we  know  one  another  as  worthy  of  life,  hope,  and  love  have 
been  destroyed.  Six  thousand  such  cellars  in  one  city  ! 

Why,  then,  in  that  one  city  alone  there  must  be  physical 
and  moral  poison  enough  to  infect  the  whole  social  structure 
of  the  world.  But  when  we  remember  that  Liverpool  is 
not  alone,  that  there  is  no  city  without  some  such  compost- 
heap  of  vice,  and  remember,  too,  that  unity  of  the  race 
which  asserts  itself,  in  vice  as  well  as  in  virtue,  over  all 
the  most  cleverly  contrived  and  impregnable  barriers  of 
class  and  caste,  so  that  there  is  a mutual  trickling  and 
percolating  interchange  of  life-essence  through  the  whole 
stratification  we  call  society ; then  we  begin  to  see  some- 
thing of  the  tremendous  danger  and  horror  of  the  evil 
that  has  been  suffered  to  root  itself  with  the  life-roots  of 
the  race. 

To  illustrate  in  part  what  I mean  by  saying  that  the 
unity  of  the  race  overcomes  the  barriers  of  caste  and  class, 
and  asserts  itself  in  vice  as  in  virtue,  I may  point  to  the 
invincible  levelling  power  of  the  sexual  passion — the  power 
given  to  us  to  inspire  us  to  the  highest  plane  of  moral 
being  possible  to  this  life,  but  by  which  we  can,  if  we  will, 
sound  the  lowest  abysses.  It  is  the  one  touch  of  nature 
making  the  whole  world  kin ; making  it  kin  on  the  pure 
and  lofty  plane  of  pure  and  perfect  home-life  where  sons 
and  daughters  grow  up  in  the  strengthening  light  of  the 
unselfish  love  which  first  united  the  husband  and  wife, 
and  now  binds  and  inspires  them  in  fatherhood  and 
motherhood ; making  it  kin  in  the  populous  world  of  the 
merely  pleasure-seeking ; and  again  making  it  kin  in 
those  depths  where  it  has  sunk  into  the  low  and  ravenous 
sensual  instinct  of  prey. 

Wherever  man  exists,  this  one  power,  dominating  for 
good  or  ill,  is  our  common  inheritance  and  keeps  oblite- 
rating all  external  distinctions,  drawing  the  race  together, 
and  cementing  life-relations  in  the  present,  and  for 
posterity,  despite  the  strongest  contrast  and  most  insur- 
mountable obstacles. 


262 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


“ Why 
should  Lon- 
don wait?” 
Daily 
Telegraph, 
Oct.  25,  1883. 


Out  of  some  of  those  six  thousand  cellars  in  Liverpool 
— nests  of  utmost  vice  and  degradation  as  they  are — some 
young  girl  may  emerge,  who,  in  spite  of  rags  and  dirt,  and 
every  bad  inheritance,  may  be  fair,  may  have  both  wit  and 
pretty  looks  enough  to  catch  the  fancy  of  some  gentleman’s 
son  ; and  if  drink  has  done  its  usual  work  of  strangling 
the  moral  life  within  him  as  inheritance  and  environments 
have  done  it  for  her — the  worst  wrong  that  may  follow 
does  follow,  and  if  a child  is  horn  and  lives,  it  may  by  an 
advance  in  mental  endowment  take  its  vile  moral  heritage 
where  yet  wider  nemesis  will  be  wrought. 

For  if  those  who  dwell  always  in  the  safety  and  refine- 
ment of  real  homes,  imagine  that  the  slums  and  dens  of 
vice  are  far  from  them  and  theirs — that  there  can  be 
nothing  in  common  between  them,  I must  in  conscience 
hint  that  they  may  be  making  the  dangerous  mistake  of 
under-estimating  the  damning  power  of  alcohol  to  obliterate 
just  those  refined  distinctions  in  which  they  trust. 

Alcohol  can  and  does  lead  the  husbands,  fathers,  brothers, 
and  sons  of  just  such  prosperous  homes  into  just  such  pits 
of  infamy.  They  do  not  go  at  once  and  with  their  eyes 
open,  but  step  by  step,  as  surely  as  the  drinking  habit  is 
once  formed.  For  alcohol  is  not  satisfied  with  making  men 
act  weakly  and  wrongly ; it  will  have  them  gravitate  to 
worse  and  worse,  and  is  cunning  to  devise  always  some 
lower  and  more  blasting  shame.  It  develops  also  that 
other  cunning  of  madness,  quickness  and  watchful  subtlety 
to  veil  its  ravages  and  deceive  the  solicitude  of  loving  ones. 
And  the  result  is  not  only  that  besides  the  family  we  know 
of,  sheltered  under  the  same  roof  with  us,  there  are  half- 
brothers  and  half-sisters  whom  we  never  know,  homeless 
wanderers  in  friendless  guilt  and  shame,  or  tenants  of  early 
graves  that  cry  louder  than  Abel’s  blood ; but  the  evil 
comes  home  and  the  good  wife  and  mother  is  made  to  un- 
consciously impart  the  secret  poison  to  her  latest  born. 

Under  the  heading,  “ Why  should  London  wait  F ” the 
Daily  Telegraph  (October  25, 1883)  says,  “ It  is,  however,  be- 
ginning to  be  known  what  cimel  sights  and  scenes  the  wealth 
and  magnificence  of  London  conceal.  Men,  women,  and 
children  by  hundreds  of  thousands  exist  among  us  in  a 
condition  which  savages  would  scorn  and  beasts  refuse  to 
bear.  Without  light,  air,  fresh  water,  or  any  of  the  veriest 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


263 


necessities  of  human  life,  they  are  forced  to  congregate  in 
places  where  not  only  morality  but  the  merest  decency 
becomes  impossible.  A majority  among  them  are  indus- 
trious and  patient  people,  eager  to  work  while  they  can ; 
for  thieves,  prostitutes,  tramps,  and  beggars  are,  most  of 
them,  better  lodged  than  the  victims  of  the  vestry  and  the 
caucus  whose  cause  is  now  at  stake.  Into  rotten  and  reek- 
ing tenements  they  are  driven  helplessly  by  the  process 
which  rebuilds  the  capital  without  making  rightful  provi- 
sion for  its  weakest  citizens,  and  their  cry  is  drowned  and 
their  sorrows  overwhelmed  in  the  ocean  of  existence  which 
surges  around  them.  ‘Every  room,’  says  an  explorer,  ‘in 
these  rotten  and  reeking  tenements  houses  a family,  often 
two.  In  one  cellar  a sanitary  inspector  reports  finding  a 
father,  mother,  three  children,  and  four  pigs  ! In  a room 
a missionary  discovered  a man  ill  with  small-pox,  his  wife 
just  recovering  from  her  eighth  confinement,  and  the  children 
running  about  half- naked  and  covered  with  dirt.  Here  are 
seven  people  living  in  one  underground  kitchen,  and  a 
little  dead  child  lying  in  the  same  chamber.  Elsewhere  is 
a poor  widow,  her  three  children,  and  a child  who  had  been 
dead  thirteen  days.  Her  husband,  who  was  a cabman,  had 
shortly  before  committed  suicide.  Here  lives  a widow  and 
her  six  children,  including  one  daughter  of  twenty-nine, 
one  of  twenty-one,  and  a son  of  twenty-seven.  Another 
apartment  contains  father,  mother,  and  six  children,  two  of 
whom  are  ill  with  scarlet  fever.  In  another  nine  brothers  and 
sisters,  from  twenty-nine  years  downwards,  live,  eat,  and 
sleep  together.  Here  is  a mother  who  turns  her  children 
into  the  street  in  the  early  evening  because  she  lets  her 
room  for  immoral  purposes  until  long  after  midnight,  when 
the  poor  little  wretches  creep  back  again,  if  they  have  not 
found  some  miserable  shelter  elsewhere.’  Where  there  are 
beds  they  are  simply  heaps  of  dirty  rags,  shavings,  or  straw. 
Crime  also,  as  a matter  of  course,  spreads  like  a fungus  in 
decaying  timber,  where  a child  must  make  fifty-six  gross 
of  match-boxes  a day  to  earn  the  ten  shillings  a week  which 
thieving  will  easily  bring  him.  There  are  women  who 
work  at  the  needle  seventeen  hours  per  diem  for  the  pay 
of  one  shilling ! In  St.  George’s-in-the-East  large  numbers 
of  children  toil  with  their  tiny  fingers  all  day  making  sacks 
at  a farthing  apiece  ! One  poor  woman  was  found,  con- 


264 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  Bitter 
Cry  of  Out- 
cast London 
(1883). 


sumptive  and  emaciated,  with  a drunken  husband  and  five 
starving  children  ‘ eating  a few  green  peas.’  In  a room  at 
Wych  Street,  ‘ on  the  third  floor,  over  a marine  store 
dealer’s,  there  was,  a short  time  ago,  an  inquest  as  to  the 
death  of  a little  baby.  A man,  his  wife,  and  three  children 
were  living  in  that  room.  The  infant  was  the  second  child, 
who  had  died,  poisoned  by  the  foul  atmosphere ; and  this 
dead  baby  was  cut  open  in  the  one  room  where  its  parents 
and  brothers  and  sisters  lived,  ate,  and  slept,  because  the 
parish  had  no  mortuary  and  no  room  in  which  post- 
mortems could  be  performed ! ’ In  such  abodes  what  room  is 
there  for  honesty,  or  faith,  or  hope  F Virtue  herself  departs, 
ashamed,  hopeless,  and  silent,  from  ‘homes  ’ where  she  has 
nothing  to  offer,  nothing  to  promise  ; where  Vice  itself  is 
so  miserable  that  it  is  more  to  be  pitied  than  reproached. 

“ These  are  but  slight  and  simple  examples  of  the  state 
of  things  prevalent  in  the  capital  of  Great  Britain  ; widely, 
notoriously,  terribly  prevalent ; of  cases  to  be  paralleled  by 
thousands  and  scores  of  thousands  behind  the  splendid 
streets  and  wealthy  squares  of  London.” 

From  the  little  pamphlet  entitled  The  Bitter  Cry  of 
Outcast  London,  * I quote  the  following  (showing  the  close 
relation  between  drink,  poverty,  and  shame)  : — “ The  low 
parts  of  London  are  the  sink  into  which  the  filthy  and 
abominable  from  all  parts  of  the  country  seem  to  flow. 
Entire  courts  are  filled  with  thieves,  prostitutes,  and  libe- 
rated convicts.  The  misery  and  sin  caused  by  drink  in 
these  districts  have  often  been  told,  but  these  horrors  can 
never  be  set  forth  either  by  pen  or  artist’s  pencil.  In  the 
district  of  Euston  Road  is  one  public-house  to  every  hundred 
people,  counting  men,  women,  and  children.  Children  who 
can  scarcely  walk  are  taught  to  steal,  and  mercilessly  beaten 
if  they  come  back  from  their  daily  expeditions  without 
money  or  money’s  worth.  Many  of  them  are  taken  by  the 
hand  or  carried  in  the  arms  to  the  gin-palace,  and  not 
seldom  may  you  see  mothers  urging  and  compelling  their 
tender  infants  to  drink  the  fiery  liquid.  Lounging  at  the 
doors,  and  lolling  out  of  windows,  and  prowling  about 
street  corners  were  pointed  out  several  well-known  members 
of  the  notorious  band  of  ‘ Forty  Thieves,’  who,  often  in 
conspiracy  with  abandoned  women,  go  out  after  dark  to 

* Issued  by  the  Committee  of  the  London  Congregational  Union. 


SOCIAL  EESULTS. 


265 


rob  people  in  Oxford  Street,  Regent  Street,  and  other 
thoroughfares.  These  particulars  indicate  but  faintly  the 
moral  influences  from  which  the  dwellers  in  these  squalid 
regions  have  no  escape,  and  by  which  is  bred  ‘ infancy  that 
knows  no  innocence,  youth  without  modesty  or  shame, 
maturity  that  is  mature  in  nothing  but  suffering  and 
guilt,  blasted  old  age  that  is  a scandal  on  the  name  we 
bear.’  ” 

§ 65.  The  mortality  from  drink  has  been  a much-disputed 
question,  and  the  many  public  utterances  by  men  accounted 
both  competent  and  veracious  have  for  some  reason  re- 
ceived but  slight  attention  from  the  public ; and  it  is 
perhaps  not  well  known  that  the  avei’age  figures  now 
generally  accepted  as  approximately  true  have  been  com- 
puted as  long  ago  as  in  1839.  In  the  Rev.  B.  Parsons’ 
Anti-Bacchus  (1839)  I find  the  following : — “ At  a.n  inquest 
held  June,  1839,  on  a person  who  had  died  from  the  effects 
of  intemperance,  Mr.  W akley,  coroner,  made  these  remarks  : 
‘I  think  intoxication  likely  to  be  the  cause  of  one-half  the 
inquests  that  are  held.’  Mr.  Bell,  the  clerk  of  the  inquests, 
observed  ‘ that  the  proportion  of  deaths  so  occasioned 
were  supposed  to  be  three  out  of  five .’  ‘ Then,’  said  Mr. 

Wakley,  ‘there  are  annually  1500  inquests  in  the  Western 
Division  of  Middlesex,  and,  according  to  that  ratio,  nine 
hundred  of  the  deaths  are  produced  by  hard  drinking.’  On 
another  occasion  Mr.  Wakley  said,  ‘ Gin  may  be  thought 
the  best  friend  I have  ; it  causes  me  to  hold  annually  one 
thousand  inquests  more  than  I should  otherwise  hold. 
Besides  these,  I have  reason  to  believe  that  from  ten  to 
fifteen  thousand  pei-sons  in  this  metropolis  die  annually 
from  the  effects  of  gin-drinking,  upon  whom  no  inquests 
are  held.’  These  remarks  appeared  in  most  of  the  public 
papers  of  the  time,  and  are  the  more  valuable  because  Mr. 
Wakley,  not  long  before  he  became  coroner,  spoke  in  the 
House  of  Commons  rather  sneeringly  of  teetotalers ; the 
observations  made  above  were  therefore  extorted  from  him 
by  the  scenes  he  had  witnessed.” 

In  his  Mortality  of  Intemperance  (London,  1879)  Dr. 
Kerr  says,  “ When,  a few  years  ago,  I instituted  an 
inquiry  into  the  causes  contributing  to  the  mortality  in  the 
practice  of  several  medical  friends,  it  was  with  the  avowed 
object  of  demonstrating  and  exposing  the  utter  falsity  of 


Mortality 
from  drink. 


Statement  by 
Coroner 
Wakley  in 
1839. 


Testimony 
of  Dr.  Nor- 
man Kerr. 


266 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Sir  Wm.  Gull 
on  alcoholic 
infanticide. 


Mortality 
among  liquor 
dealers. 


the  perpetual  teetotal  assertion,  that  60,000  drunkards  died 
every  year  in  the  United  Kingdom. 

“ I had  not  long  pursued  this  line  of  inquiry  before  it 
was  made  clear  to  me  that  there  was  little,  if  any,  exagge- 
ration in  these  temperance  statistics ; and  when  asked  to 
present  the  final  results  of  my  investigation  to  the  last 
Social  Science  Congress,  I was  compelled  to  admit  that  at 
least  120,000  of  our  population  annually  lost  their  lives 
through  alcoholic  excess — 40,500  dying  from  their  own  in- 
temperance, and  79,500  from  accident,  violence,  poverty,  or 
disease  arising  from  the  intemperance  of  others.” 

The  Harveian  Society  Report  concludes  that  fourteen  per 
cent,  of  the  mortality  among  adults  is  due  to  alcohol ; i.e., 
about  39,000  in  England  and  Wales,  or  52,000  in  Great 
Britain ; thus  the  Harveian  computation  exceeds  Dr. 
Kerr’s  by  11,500. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  Jubilee  of  the  British  Medical 
Association  (held  at  Worcester,  August,  1882),  Dr.  Kerr 
reiterated  his  statements,  and  no  one  disputed  their 
accuracy ; it  was  even  admitted  that  he  was  within  the 
truth. 

In  a June  number  of  the  Echo  (1883)  appeared  a 
powerful  plea  for  the  protection  of  infants,  entitled  Alco- 
holic Infanticide.  It  stated  that  Sir  W.  Gull  considered 
alcohol  as  the  “ most  destructive  agent  among  the  causes  of 
infant  mortality,”  and  cited  the  evidence  of  the  coroners 
concerning  the  fearfully  frequent  suffocation  of  helpless 
little  ones  under  the  heavy  bodies  of  their  torpidly  drunk 
mothers — a kind  of  accident  known  as  ‘overlaying;’  and 
alluded  to  the  weekly  records  of  child-murder  committed, 
not  from  stupidity,  but  in  the  direct  violence  of  the  drink- 
frenzy,  by  braining  the  babe  or  casting  it  in  the  fire.”  The 
Echo  quoted  Darwin,  and  Drs.  Edis,  Richardson,  Bree, 
and  Elam,  as  testifying  to  great  infant  mortality  from 
drink,  and  to  the  evil  hereditary  results  for  those  who 
survived. 

The  Lancet  of  about  the  same  date  suggested  a frightful 
significance  for  the  overlaying  mortality,  to  the  effect  that 
it  was  by  no  means  always  accidental. 

An  appalling  and  pathetic  feature  in  the  drink  mortality 
list,  and  a most  conclusive  proof  that  drink  is  a foundation 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


267 


of  death,  is  furnished  by  the  statistics  of  death  among  the 
liquor  dealers  themselves. 

Dr.  Kerr,  in  the  essay  just  quoted  from,  says,  “ The 
mortality  of  publicans  is  so  serious  that  the  Registrar- 
General’s  reports  show  that  138  die  for  every  100  em- 
ployed in  70  leading  occupations  ; and  in  his  last  annual 
report  he  draws  attention  to  the  remarkable  increase  in  the 
rate  of  mortality  among  grocers  at  every  group  of  ages 
since  they  have  begun  to  retail  spirits.” 

Mr.  David  Lewis,  ex-magistrate  of  the  city  of  Edin- 
burgh, in  his  Drink  Problem  and  its  Solution  (1881),  says 
- — “ So  frequent  have  premature  deaths  become  among 
publicans,  that  one  of  the  most  wealthy  and  popular  life 
assurance  associations  in  the  kingdom  (the  Scottish 
Widows’  Fund)  has  issued  a circular  to  all  its  agents  in- 
structing them  that  in  future  the  life  of  no  publican  can 
be  insured  upon  any  terms  whatever.  This  example,  we 
observe,  is  being  followed  by  several  other  associations  in 
this  country  and  America.” 

And  the  General  Assurance  Office,  on  the  18th  of 
February,  1881,  issued  a notice,  which  stated— That  in 
consequence  of  the  excessive  mortality  experienced  in  the 
case  of  innkeepers  whose  lives  have  been  assured  with 
the  company,  it  is  hereby  notified  that  from  this  date 
the  directors  will  not  undertake  these  risks  on  any 
terms.” 

Concerning  the  mortality  among  public-house  keepers, 
Dr.  Edmunds,  in  his  Use  of  Alcohol  as  a Medicine  (1867), 
says — 

“ You  will  find  that  thirty  per  thousand  of  those  die 
every  year  where  the  normal  average  of  other  men  is  fifteen 
— that  is,  where  one  workman  dies  two  publicans  die.  Can 
we  account  for  that  in  any  way  ? What  should  we  expect 
if  we  looked  into  these  facts  P The  publican  is  better 
clothed  than  the  working  man ; he  is  better  housed  and 
better  fed,  and  less  exposed  to  casualty  and  accident  which 
occur  to  men  in  laborious,  mechanical,  and  other  trades ; 
and  therefore  we  should  expect  that  the  publican  would 
live  longer  than  the  ordinary  working  man.  And  so  he 
would,  if  it  were  not  for  this  one  fact  which  comes  in — he 
is  mixed  up  with  alcoholic  liquors ; he  is  not,  as  a rule,  a 
drunkard,  but  he  takes  that  which  damages  his  stomach, 


Estimate  of 
Dr.  Kerr. 


Statement 
by  Mr. 

David  Lewis. 


Notice  issued 
by  General 
Assurance 
Office  in 
1881. 


Statement 
by  Dr. 
Edmunds. 


268 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Relative 
longevity  of 
drinkers  and 
abstainers,  as 
furnished  by 
the  United 
Kingdom 
Temperance 
and  General 
Provident 
Institution 
for  Mutual 
Life 

Insurance. 


Statement  of 
W.  B.  Robin- 
son, Chief 
Constructor, 
R.N. 


a good  many  times  a day,  out  of  compliment  to  some  friend 
who  asks  him  to  take  a drink ! ” 


As  to  the  relative  healthfulness  of  temperance  or  drink 
the  tables  yearly  made  up  by  the  United  Kingdom  Temper- 
ance and  General  Provident  Institution  for  Mutual  Life 
Insurance  (established  1840)  afford  conclusive  practical 
evidence.  The  secretary  of  this  institution,  Mr.  Thomas 
Cash,  kindly  furnished  me  with  the  following  condensed 
hut  lucid  statement : — 


Temperance  Section.  General  Section. 

Expected  Expected 

Claims.  Actual.  Claims.  Actual. 

1866-70  (five  years)  549  411  1008  944 

1871-75  (five  years)  723  511  1268  1330 

1876-80  (five  years)  933  651  1485  1480 

1881-82  (two  years)  439  288  647  585 


Total  (17  years)  ...  2644  1861  4408  4339 


It  -will  be  seen  from  this  that  the  claims  in  the  tem- 
perance section  are  only  a little  over  seventy  per  cent,  of 
the  expectancy,  while  in  the  general  section  they  are  but 
slightly  below  the  expectancy. 

W.  B.  Robinson,  Chief  Constructor,  R.N.,  in  a paper 
on  The  Value  of  Life  being  increased  by  taking  no 
Intoxicating  Drinks,  read  before  the  Economic  Section  of 
the  British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science, 
September  22,  1883,  said  that  “ The  Sceptre  Life  Associa- 
tion states  that  during  ‘ the  eighteen  years  of  our  history 
ending  December  31,  1882,  we  had  116  deaths  in  our 
temperance  section,  against  270  expected  deaths,’  and  in 
‘ this  year,  1883,  the  same  disproportion  prevails,  as  we 
have  had  fifty-one  deaths,  and  only  seven  of  them  on  the 
lives  of  abstainers,  whereas  to  be  equal  with  non- abstainers 
there  should  have  been  nineteen.’ 

“ In  the  Emperor  Life  Assurance  Office  they  have  a 
temperance  branch,  and  they  assure  lives  at  a ' less  rate 
than  moderate  drinkers,  thus  giving  them  an  immediate 
bonus  of  from  £3  to  £7,  according  to  age,  on  each  £100 
assurance.’ 

“ In  some  accidental  offices  the  assumed  superior  lives 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


269 


of  abstainers  is  recognized  by  a charge  of  20  per  cent,  less 
to  teetotal  than  to  moderate  drinkers.”  * 

§ 66.  Schlegel  said,  when  this  century  was  in  its  dawn — 
“ Drinking  is  the  principal  cause  of  insanity  and  suicide  in 
England,  Germany,  and  Russia,  of  licentiousness  and 
gambling  in  France,  and  of  bigotry  in  Spain.” 

Dr.  F.  Ganghofner,  of  Prague,  in  his  address  on  the 
Influence  of  Alcohol  on  Man  (Prague,  1880),  says,  “It  is 
estimated  that  in  the  asylums  of  America,  England,  and 
Holland,  the  total  number  insane  from  drink  ranges  from 
15  to  20  per  cent.,  and  from  20  to  28  per  cent,  in  the 
asylums  of  France.” 

In  the  Journal  of  Mental  Science  (April,  1869),  Dr. 
Lockhart-Robertson  computes  for  England  and  Germany, 
in  1844,  one  lunatic  to  every  808  inhabitants,  and  in  1868 
one  lunatic  for  every  432  inhabitants. 

The  third  report  on  intemperance  before  the  Select 
Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  shows,  from  1865  to 
1875,  an  increase  in  population  of  18  per  cent.,  in  lunacy 
of  67  per  cent.,  and  in  drunkenness  of  130  per  cent. 

Mr.  Hoyle  states  that  “ The  number  of  lunatics  in 
asylums  and  workhouses  in  the  United  Kingdom  will  be 
slightly  over  100,000,  besides  many  not  in  asylums.  In 
England  and  Wales,  in  the  year  1860,  there  were  38,038, 
but  in  1880  they  had  increased  to  71,191,  being  nearly 
double,  although  the  population  had  only  increased  28  per 
cent.” 

And  I may  add  that,  according  to  the  last  report  of  the 
Commissioners  of  Lunacy,  “the  total  number  of  lunatics, 
idiots,  and  persons  of  unsound  mind,  registered  as  being- 
insane,  in  England  and  Wales,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1883, 
was  76,765  ! ” 

Dr.  Edgar  Shepherd,  Medical  Superintendent  of  Colney 
Hatch  Lunatic  Asylum,  stated  a few  years  ago  publicly  that 
he  believed  that  40  per  cent,  of  the  insanity  in  Great 
Britain  was  the  result  of  drink. f In  his  annual  report  for 

* For  further  information  on  this  most  practical  point,  see  The 
Comparative  Death-Rate  of  Total  Abstainers  and  Moderate  Drinkers 
by  Dr.  C.  R.  Drysdale,  in  Med.  Temp.  Journal  (Jan.,  1884),  The  Vital 
Statistics  of  Total  Abstinence,  by  the  Rev.  Dawson  Burns  (March, 
1884). 

t Med.  Chirurgical  Journal,  1876. 


Schlegel  on 
drink  as  a 
cause  of  in- 
sanity and 
suicide. 

Hr.  Gang- 
hofner’s 
estimate  of 
alcoholic 
insanity 
in  America, 
England,  and 
Holland. 

Dr.  Lock- 
hart-Robert- 
son’s com- 
putation for 
England  and 
Germany. 
House  of 
Commons 
Report  for 
from  1865 
to  1875. 

Mr.  Hoyle  on 
alcoholic 
insanity  in 
England  and 
Wales. 


Last  report 
of  the  Com- 
missioners of 
Lunacy. 


Dr.  Shep- 
herd’s state- 
ment. 


270 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Statements 
by  Earl 
Shaftesbury. 


1877,  Dr.  Shepherd  repeated  this  statement  in  these 
words  : — “ A careful  analysis  of  the  year’s  admissions 
clearly  established  a percentage  of  more  than  28  as  due  to 
this  cause  (intemperance),  and  I am  persuaded,  from  the 
character  of  the  individuals  and  the  form  of  their  malady, 
in  other  cases  where  the  causation  is  not  assigned  or  can- 
not accurately  be  traced,  that  an  addition  of  12  per  cent 
may  directly  or  indirectly  be  attached  to  the  same  origin. 
Thus  we  have  an  approximate  record  of  40  per  cent,  of  the 
madness  of  Middlesex  as  due  to  an  unavoidable  cause,  and 
that  cause  the  growing  passion  for  drink.” 

And  again  in  January,' 1882,  he  said,  “I  have  seen  no 
reason  to  alter  my  opinion,  so  frequently  expressed,  as  to 
the  part  played  by  alcoholic  intemperance  in  its  causal 
relation  to  insanity.  No  doubt  many  cases  occur  in  which 
some  mental  disturbance,  generated  by  what  is  termed  a 
moral  cause — notably  loss  of  money  or  friends — leads,  in 
the  first  place,  to  excessive  imbibition ; but  I am  per- 
suaded that  the  prime  mover  of  all  that  is  disarranging  is 
intemperance.” 

And  Dr.  Pritchard  Davies,  Medical  Superintendent 
of  the  Banning  Heath  Asylum,  says  in  the  report  for 
November,  1883,  “ Believing,  as  I do,  that  the  predis- 
posing causes  of  insanity  are  very  numerous,  1 am  equally 
convinced  that  but  for  the  potent  exciter  alcohol,  insanity 
would  be  decreased  by  at  least  50  per  cent.” 

Earl  Shaftesbury,  permanent  chairman  of  the  Lunacy 
Commission  since  1845  (and  acting  chairman  for  many 
years,  having  been  on  the  Commission  some  fifty  years),  in 
his  reply  to  Hon.  Stephen  Cane,  chairman  of  the  Lunacy 
Commission  of  the  House  of  Commons,  1877,  said  that  in 
his  opinion  “ intemperance  is  the  cause  of  fully  two-thirds 
of  the  insanity  that  prevails  either  in  the  drunkards 
themselves  or  tbeir  children ; ” and  in  a recent  address 
in  the  House  of  Lords  he  stated  that  “ fully  six-tenths  of 
all  the  cases  of  insanity  to  be  found  in  these  realms 
and  in  America  arise  from  no  other  cause  than  intem- 
perance.” * 

* If  the  reader  will  examine  the  table  of  causes  from  the  thirty- 
seventh  Beport  of  the  Commissioners  of  Lunacy,  July,  1SS3  (see 
Appendix),  and  remember  that  to  this  percentage  of  lunacy  we  may 
fairly  add  a large  percentage  of  the  other  causes  as  being  indirectly 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


271 


Mr.  M a lh all,  the  world-statistician,  in  his  contribution 
on  Insanity,  Suicide,  and  Civilization,  to  the  Contemporary 
Review  (June,  1883),  scouts  Lord  Shaftesbury’s  estimate, 
hut  admits  that  insanity  in  England  caused  by  drink 
amounts  to  nearly  one-third  of  the  total  insanity  of  the 
British  kingdom  ; besides  which,  he  numbers  25,800  idiots 
as  owing  their  condition  to  drunken  parentage. 

Dr.  Gilchrist,  M.D.,  Medical  Superintendent  of  the  Dr.  gh- 
Crichton  Royal  Institution,  Dumfries,  which  has  an  average  s test1' 
of  some  five  hundred  inmates  yearly,  stated  before  the 
Lunacy  Commission  of  1877  that  the  larger  proportion  of 
dipsomaniacs  are  “ the  most  hopeless,  in  fact,  of  all  cases 
of  insanity;  they  are  constitutionally  defective.” 

Mr.  Heaton,  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  Lunacy, 
recently  mentioned  to  me  a case  of  a brilliant  lady  who 
had  now  for  the  thirtieth  time  been  brought  to  the  asylum 
insane  from  drink. 

In  the  above-mentioned  article  Mr.  Mulhall  also  makes 
this  peculiar  statement : — 

“ No  one  ever  yet  went  mad  from  wine,  any  more  than 
from  eating  cabbage,  although  the  ancients  had  that  im- 
pression. It  is  when  nations  discard  the  use  of  wine  for 
stronger  stimulants  that  insanity  spreads  devastation 
among  the  masses.” 

French  statistics  of  deaths  for  1883  show  that  in  three 
French  provinces,  whose  population  was  not  one-tenth  of 
that  in  five  others,  but  whose  consumption  of  drink  was 
three  times  as  great,  there  were  140  suicides,  while  in  the 
other  five  departments  there  were  only  sixteen  ! 

As  at  least  20  to  28  per  cent,  of  the  insanity  in 
French  asylums  is  alcoholic,  and  as  wine  is  the  chief 
drink  of  the  Frenchman,  the  question  is — was  it  wine  or 
cabbage  ? 

In  a letter  to  the  Times  (September  5,  1883),  "William  Mr.  Hoyle 
Hoyle  says,  “ The  returns  of  lunacy  show  that  its  increase  “n®c™inlic 
has  been  even  greater  than  that  of  crime.  In  1852  the  England  and 
numbers  of  lunatics  in  England  and  Wales  were  21,158 ; in  " ales' 

1881  the  numbers  were  73,113.” 

occasioned  by  drink  (heredity  over  one-half),  it  will  be  apparent 
that  Lord  Shaftesbury’s  report  is  not  likely  to  prove  an  exaggeration 
when  this  subject  has  received  even  more  close  scientific  investigation 
than  at  present. 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr.  T.  S.  Clouston,*  in  his  lecture  on  The  Effects  of  the 
Excessive  Use  of  Alcohol  on  the  Mental  Functions  of  the 
Brain,  delivered  to  the  students  of  the  University  of 
Edinburgh  (December  19,  1883),  said,  “We  know  as  a 
statistical  fact  that  from  fifteen  to  twenty  per  cent,  of  the 
actual  insanity  of  the  country  is  produced  by  the  excessive 
use  of  alcohol.  In  that  case,  as  we  have  about  one  person 
to  every  three  hundred  in  the  population  insane,  it  follows 
that  one  person  in  every  two  thousand  of  our  people, 
counting  men,  women,  and  children,  become  insane,  and 
deprived  of  their  reason,  of  their  power  of  action,  of  their 
power  of  enjoyment,  and  of  their  personal  liberty  from 
this  cause.  This  makes  about  17,500  persons  at  any  one 
given  time  in  the  British  Empire  who  are  so  incapacitated 
by  reason  of  mental  alienation,  produced  through  the 
excessive  and  continuous  use  of  alcohol.  These  people  are 
as  good  as  dead  while  they  are  insane ; they  do  no  work 
for  the  world  or  in  the  world,  and  all  that  makes  life 
worth  having  to  them,  they  are  deprived  of.  In  these 
cases  you  have  got  to  the  acme  of  the  bad  effects  of 
alcohol  on  the  mental  functions  of  the  brain  ; you  have 
arrived,  as  it  were,  at  the  worst  that  alcohol  can  do  to  a 
man’s  mental  functions,  and  you  will  all  admit  that  it  is  a 
bad  enough  result,  and  it  occurs  in  the  large  number  of 
cases  I have  mentioned. 

“ But  you  must  remember  that  these  numbers  are 
merely  of  those  so  well  known  as  to  be  available  for 
statistics,  merely  the  registered  persons  who  have  been  so 
ill  as  to  have  been  sent  to  asylums  through  the  excessive 
use  of  alcohol.  For  every  one  of  these  who  had  become 
really  insane,  there  are  no  doubt  a large  number  who  have 
become  partially  affected  in  mind,  but  not  to  such  an 
extent  as  that  it  has  been  necessary  to  deprive  them  of 
their  liberty,  but  who,  nevertheless,  are  affected  in  mind 
through  the  excessive  use  of  alcohol  to  some  extent,  and 
who  are  many  of  them  partially  insane.” 

And  W.  J.  Corbet,  M.P.,  in  a striking  paper,  Is  Insanity 
on  the  Increase  ? (Fortnightly  (Review , April,  1884)  says 
that  after  being  engaged  “ for  many  years,  and  under 
special  circumstances,  in  studying  the  statistics  of  insanity. 

# Physician  Superintendent  of  the  Royal  Edinburgh  Asylum  at 
Horningside,  the  largest  insane  asylum  in  Scotland. 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


273 


I have  reluctantly  come  to  the  conclusion  that  facts  and 
figures  establish  clearly  the  progressive  growth  of  the 
malady.”  He  summarizes  his  facts  and  figures  in  the 
subjoined  table : — 


Date. 

Country. 

No.  of 
insane. 

Population. 

Ratio  of 
insane  per 
1000. 

1862 

England 

41,129 

20,336,476 

2-02 

Ireland 

8,055 

5,798,967 

1-36 

Scotland 

6,341 

3,062,294 

2-1 

Total 

55,525 

29,197,737 

1-81 

1872 

England 

58,640 

23,074,600 

2-54 

Ireland 

10,767 

5,368,696 

2-04 

Scotland 

7,606 

3,339,226 

2-26 

Total 

77,013 

31,782,522 

2-41 

1882 

England 

75,072 

25,798,922 

9-90 

Ireland 

13,444 

5,294,436 

2-54 

Scotland 

10,335 

3,695,456 

2-80 

Total 

98,851 

34,788,814 

2'8 

And  thus  comments  thereon : “ It  is  singular  to  note 
that,  save  that  the  ratio  of  insane  to  sane  is  greatest 
in  England  and  least  in  Ireland,  the  conditions  through- 
out are  so  alike  as  to  be  almost  identical.  The  actual 
growth  of  numbers  is  continuous  and  regular,  as  if 
influenced  by  some  inscrutable  law ; there  is  a steady 
unchecked  current  of  increase,  in  accommodation,  expen- 
diture, numbers,  and,  strangest  of  all,  in  ‘ cures.’  It 
would  be  only  wearisome  to  enter  more  fully  into  statisti- 
cal details ; any  one  who  wishes  and  has  leisure  can 
scrutinize  them  for  himself.  The  plain  fact  stands  out, 
however  others  may  try  to  disguise  it  in  words,  that  in 
the  brief  course  of  two  decades  the  insane  in  the  three 
kingdoms  have  nearly  doubled  in  number,  in  spite  of 
the  most  elaborate  and  costly  means  provided  to  cure 
them.  There  is,  moreover,  another  alarming  feature,  in 
that  we  evidently  do  not  yet  know  the  worst.  The 
ominous  words,  ‘ inadequate  accommodation  ’ and  ‘ increase 

T 


274 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Sanger  on 
alcohol  as  a 
cause  of 
prostitution. 


of  provision,’  run  through,  the  whole  series  of  reports 
from  beginning  to  end.” 

After  saying  that  alcohol  is  a chief  cause  in  the  pro- 
duction of  insanity,  and  having  quoted  the  already 
mentioned  statement  made  by  Lord  Shaftesbury  before 
the  Select  Committee,  Mr.  Corbet  says — 

“ I go  a step  further,  and  hold  that  there  is  abundant 
evidence  to  prove  that  to  dissipation,  drunkenness,  and 
moral  depravity,  either  directly  or  consequentially  by 
transmission  to  the  next  generation,  is  to  be  charged  an 
immense  proportion  of  the  annual  increase  of  lunacy.  No 
person  of  authority,  I think,  will  be  found  to  deny  that 
evil  and  corrupt  living  in  the  parents  bears  fruit  in  an 
unhealthy  state  both  of  body  and  mind  in  their  offspring. 
In  the  lower  animals  the  transmission  not  only  of  generic 
qualities,  but  even  of  individual  singularities,  is  a familiar 
fact ; so  with  mankind  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  a pure 
stream  will  issue  from  a polluted  source;  and  how  foul 
and  corrupt  that  source  must  be,  any  one  who  sees  the 
habits  of  the  swarms  of  unfortunate  creatures  who  nightly 
crowd  the  streets  of  any  of  our  great  cities  may  determine 
for  himself.  ...  It  is  said  that  people  nowadays  are 
impatient  of  restraint,  and  betray  a tendency  to  abandon 
all  attempt  at  self-discipline  and  to  yield  to  every  impulse, 
whether  good  or  bad.  If  true,  it  is  sad  indeed,  for  it  is, 
and  from  time  immemorial  has  been,  an  indication  of 
national  decay.  The  great  empires  of  old  perished,  not 
from  sudden  and  violent  convulsions,  but  from  the  moral 
degradation  of  their  people,  from  internal  rottenness 
amounting  to  national  insanity.  Quern  deus  vult  perdere 
priiis  dementat.” 

In  Sanger’s  History  of  Prostitution,  its  Extent,  Causes, 
and  Effects  (New  York,  1858),  we  read — - 

“ Apart  from  the  drinking  system,  which  I believe  to  be 
the  most  prolific  source  of  prostitution  in  Britain,  the 
following  may  be  stated  as  among  the  principal  causes  r 
one-fourth  from  being  servants  in  inns  and  public-houses 
and  beer-shops,  etc.  Were  the  disuse  of  alcoholic  drinks, 
except  under  medical  treatment,  to  become  general,  in  six 
months  we  should  be  rid  of  prostitution  by  at  least  one- 
half.”  * 

* In  the  House  of  Commons’  Committee  on  Drink  (1834)  it  was 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


275 


In  a summing  up  of  the  general  results  brought  about 
in  this  country  (England)  by  drink,  I can  hardly  do  better 
than  quote  the  results  summarized  in  the  voluminous  report 
on  drink  laid  before  the  Belgian  Chambers  of  Representa- 
tives by  the  then  Minister  of  Instruction,  Frere-Orban 
(Brussels,  1868),  in  which  the  following  facts  are  given  as 
the  drink  results  for  England  : — - 

1.  Nine-tenths  of  the  paupers  (of  whom,  according  to 
Hoyle,  there  were  over  three  and  a half  millions  in  1881). 

2.  Three-fourths  of  the  criminals. 

3.  One-half  the  diseases. 

4.  One-third  of  the  insanity. 

5.  Three-fourths  of  the  depravity  of  children  and  young 
people. 

6.  One-third  of  the  shipwrecks. 

As  to  the  condition  in  Belgium,  the  London  Daily 
News  (March  8,  1884)  says — - 

“ A statement  just  issued  by  the  Belgian  Patriotic 
League  against  Drunkenness  thus  sums  up  the  present 
aspect  of  the  great  drink  question  in  Belgium : The 
number  of  public-houses  in  that  country,  which  was  53,000 
in  1850,  had  increased  to  125,000  in  1880,  and  is  now 
130,000.  The  number  of  suicides  during  the  last  forty 
years  has  increased  80  per  cent.,  the  number  of  insane 
104  per  cent. ; of  convicts  135  per  cent.  Of  the  workmen 
who  die  in  the  hospitals  80  per  cent,  are  habitual  drunkards. 
The  conclusion  arrived  at  by  the  league  is  that  the  Belgians 
are  the  most  intemperate  people  in  the  world.” 

§ 67.  As  to  the  United  States,  Mr.  H.  A.  Thomson  read 
an  able  paper  at  the  Melbourne  International  Conference, 
1880,  in  which  he  said — - 

“ Dr.  Edward  Young,  chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics, 
Washington,  estimated  the  cost  of  liquor  to  the  nation  in 
1867  to  be  about  600,000,000  dollars.  The  estimate  should 
be  much  greater  now.  Dr.  Hargreaves,  in  Our  Wasted 
Resources  (New  York,  1876),  makes  the  cost  in  1872  to  be 
735,720,048  dollars.  Add  to  this  direct  cost  the  conse- 
quential cost,  and  we  have  a drain  upon  the  nation  annually 
of  1,500,000,000  dollars.  Upon  the  basis  of  Dr.  Young, 

stated  that  at  a dinner-party  where  the  guests  were  nearly  all  dis- 
tillers, one  of  them  gave  this  toast — “ The  distillers’  best  friend,  the 
poor  prostitutes  of  London  ! ” 


Summary  of 
the  report  on 
drink  laid 
before  the 
Belgian 
Chambers  by 
Frere-Orban 
in  1868. 


Dr.  Edward 
Young  on the 
annual 
drink  bill  of 
the  United 
States. 


276 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Mr.  Powell, 
of  New  York, 
on  the  liquor 
industry  of 
the  United 
States. 


the  cost  of  intoxicating  beverages  in  the  United  States  was 
one-sixth  of  the  value  of  its  manufactures,  which  in  1870 
were  4,232,325,442  dollars ; one-fourth  of  all  the  farm  pro- 
ductions and  additions  of  stock  in  that  year,  valued  at 
2,447,538,658  dollars.  All  the  slaughtered  animals,  home 
manufactures,  fruit  products,  market  garden  and  orchard 
products,  which  were  in  value  527,242,403  dollars,  were 
92,182,707  dollars  less  than  the  cost  of  our  nation’s  drink 
bill.  In  the  same  year  our  drink  bill  was  145,621,273 
dollars  more  than  the  value  of  all  furniture  and  house 
fixtures  . . . which  were  valued  at  473,803,837  dollars, 
and  of  all  the  articles  of  wear,  including  boots  and  shoes, 
hats  and  caps,  hosiery,  etc.,  manufactured  in  the  country. 
Again,  the  value  of  all  the  food  preparations  of  1870  was 
19,059,539  dollars  less  than  the  cost  of  the  nation’s  drink 
bill.  We  are  shown  by  the  same  author  that  the  cost  of 
liquor  for  ten  years  is  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  assessed 
value  (9,914,780,825  dollars)  of  all  the  real  estate  in  the 
United  States  ; while  the  assessed  value  of  all  the  personal 
property  (4,264,205,907  dollars)  is  but  little  more  than 
two-thirds  of  our  drink  bill  for  ten  years.” 

And  at  the  Crystal  Palace  Temperance  Jubilee  (Sep- 
tember, 1882),  Mr.  Powell,  of  New  York,  read  a paper  of 
the  same  import,  stating  that — 

“ There  were  in  1881,  5210  distilleries.  These  consumed 
31,291,146  bushels  of  grain,  with  an  aggregate  production 
of  117,728,150  gallons  of  proof  spirits.  For  the  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30,  1882,  the  total  amount  of  revenue  to  the 
National  Treasury  from  distilled  spirits  was  69,873,408.18 
dollars;  from  fermented  liquors  16,153,920.42  dollars.  The 
total  beer  production  for  the  same  period,  as  reported  to 
the  Internal  Revenue  Department,  was  16,952,085  barrels. 
A brewers’  authority  gives  the  number  of  breweries  at 
2830,  and  estimates  that  there  are  1,681,870  acres  of  land 
under  cultivation  for  barley  and  hops.  The  author  of 
Our  Wasted  Resources  gives  the  annual  liquor  bill  of  the 
United  States  at  735,000,000  dollars.  In  1880,  according 
to  the  record  of  the  Internal  Revenue  Department,  there 
were  of  wholesale  dealers  in  distilled  spirits,  40 S5  ; of  retail 
dealers,  166,891 ; of  wholesale  dealers  in  fermented  liquors, 
2065  ; of  retail  dealers,  8952  ; an  aggregate  of  both  whole- 
sale and  retail  dealers  in  both  distilled  and  fermented 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


277 


liquors  of  181,973.  Counting  1000  to  a regiment,  we  have 
a liquor-selling  army  of  181  regiments,  commissioned  by 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  to  perpetuate  the 
kingdom  of  unrighteousness  and  to  obstruct  the  onward 
progress  of  the  temperance  reform.” 

A recent  number  of  the  New  York  Temperance  Advocate  The  New 
gives  the  following  summary  of  liquor  revenue  in  the  \^pilranrr. 
United  States  : Advocate  on 


Receipts  from  dis-  Receipts  from  fer-  revenue  of 


Fiscal  years  ended 

tilled  spirits. 

mented  liquors,  the  United 

June  30. 

Dollars. 

Dollars.  States  (1863- 

1863  ... 

...  5,176,530  ... 

1,628,934  1882). 

1864 

30,329,149  ... 

...  2,290,009 

1865  ... 

...  18,731,422  ... 

3,734,928 

1866 

33,268,172  ... 

...  5,220,553 

1867  ... 

...  33,542,952  ... 

...  6,057,501 

1868 

18,655,631  ... 

...  5,955,769 

1869  ... 

...  45,071,231  ... 

...  6,099,879 

1870 

55,606,094  .. 

6,319,127 

1871  ... 

...  46,281,818  ... 

7,389,502 

1872 

49,475,516  ... 

8,258,498 

1873  ... 

...  52,099,372  ... 

...  9,324,938 

1874 

49,444,090  ... 

9,304,680 

1875  ... 

...  52,081,991  ... 

...  9,144,004 

1876 

56,426,365  ... 

...  9,571,281 

1877  

...  57,469,430  ... 

9,480,789 

1878 

50,420,816  ... 

...  9,937,052 

1879  ... 

...  52,570,285  ... 

...  10,729,320 

1880 

61,185,509  ... 

...  12,829,803 

1881  ... 

...  67,153,975  ... 

...  13,700,241 

1882 

69,873,408  ... 

...  16,153,920 

Total  dollars 

904,863,756  ... 

...  163,130,728 

The  Evening  Standard  (February  10,  1883),  quoting  London 
from  the  just  issued  report  of  the  National  Bureau  of 
Statistics  for  the  United  States,  says — liquorcon-1* 

“ The  consumption  (not  manufactured)  of  distilled  theUnitedQ 
spirits  during  the  years  1878,  1879,  1880,  1881,  and  1882  states, 
respectively,  was  57,111,982,  54,278,475,  63,526,694, 

70,607,081,  and  73,556,036  gallons.  For  the  same  years  the 
consumption  of  wines,  native  and  foreign,  was  19,812,675, 
24,532,015,  28,484,428,  24,231,106,  and  25,628,071  gallons. 

But  the  chief  increase  has  been  in  malt  liquors,  which  aggre- 
gated 310,653,253,  345,076,118,  414,771,690,  444,806,373, 
and  527,051,236  gallons. 

As  to  the  drink  traffic  in  New  York  city,  the  New  York  The  New 


278 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


York  Herald 
on  the  num- 
ber of  rum- 
shops  in  New 
York  City. 


J)r.  Howard 
Crosby  on 
the  same 
subject. 


The  condi- 
tion of  Bir- 
mingham in 
this  respect ; 
the  evidence 
of  Mr.  J. 
Chamber- 
lain,  M.P. 


The  Pall 
Mall  Gazette 
on  the  num- 
ber of  public- 
houses  in 
proportion 
to  the  in- 
habitants of 
the  various 
States  of  the 
Union. 


Herald  (February  26,  1883)  comments  to  the  effect  that 
there  are  over  ten  thousand  ram  shops  in  the  city  of  X e \v 
York,  or  one  to  every  125  inhabitants,  one  to  every  25 
families.  “Various  shops  and  stores  where  bread,  meat, 
and  groceries  can  be  procured  foot  up  7326 ; in  other 
words,  there  are  2749  more  rum  shops  than  food  shops  in 
Xew  York  city.”  But,  as  regards  London,  as  long  ago  as 
1835,  Mr.  Mark  Moore,  in  his  evidence  before  the  Parlia- 
mentary committee  on  drink,  stated  that  the  number  of 
places  for  the  sale  of  distilled  spirits  exceeded  that  of 
bakers,  butchers,  and  fishmongers  together. 

In  a lecture  delivered  also  in  1883,  on  the  Glory  and 
Hhame  of  Xew  York,  Dr.  Howard  Crosby  said  that  there 
were  12,000  grog  shops  in  Xew  York  city,  or  one  to  every 
hundred  inhabitants. 

But  deplorable  as  these  figures  are,  they  do  not  measure 
with  some  Great  Britain  furnishes.  For  example,  at  the 
annual  licensing  sessions  held  at  Birmingham,  September  6, 
1883,  deputations  from  the  Good  Templars  and  the  United 
Kingdom  Alliance  “ presented  memorials  against  the  grant- 
ingof  new  licences,  and  urged  the  magistrates  to  withhold 
others  which  Avere  not  absolutely  necessary.  Birmingham, 
it  was  stated,  had  2240  licensed  houses,  or  me  to  every  35 
inhabitants.  J.  Chamberlain,  M.P.,  in  his  evidence  before 
the  Lords  Committee  on  Intemperance  (1879),  stated  that 
“ out  of  seventy  large  towns,  fifty  have  more  public-houses 
than  Birmingham.” 

Concerning  public-houses  in  America,  the  Pall  Hall 
Gazette  for  May  4,  1883,  furnishes  the  following  statistics: — 

“ In  Hevada  there  is  one  drinking  saloon  to  every  65 
inhabitants;  in  Colorado,  one  to  every  76 ; in  California, 
one  to  every  99  ; the  rest  of  the  States  supplying  the 
following  number  of  inhabitants  to  each  drinking  saloon : 
— Oregon,  176;  Xew  Jersey,  179;  Xew  York,  192; 
Louisiana,  200 ; Ohio,  225  ; Connecticut,  246  ; Massa- 
chusetts, 256  ; Delaware,  258  ; Pennsylvania.,  263 ; Bhode 
Island,  266;  Illinois,  267;  Maryland,  293;  Wisconsin, 
304;  Minnesota,  311 ; Missouri,  337 ; Michigan,  350;  Xew 
Hampshire,  376 ; Iowa,  377  ; Indiana,  380 ; Kentucky, 
438  ; Hebraska,  487 ; Tennessee,  525  ; Texas,  549  ; Arkansas, 
554  ; Alabama,  608  ; Georgia,  612  ; Florida,  653  ; Missis- 
sippi, 654;  Virginia,  693;  Xorth  Carolina,  708;  Maine. 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


279 


791;  Vermont,  812;  West  Virginia,  817;  Kansas,  876; 
and  South  Carolina,  708.  It  thus  appears  that  the  twelve 
States  in  which  there  were  fewest  drinking  saloons  were 
all  Southern,  except  Vermont,  and  leaving  out,  of  course, 
Maine  and  Kansas,  in  which  States  drinking  saloons  are 
prohibited  by  law.” 

Dr.  Lee,  of  Philadelphia,  in  Report  of  Insanity  (1868), 
gave  for  the  year  1860  one  insane  person  to  every  1305 
inhabitants,  and  in  1868,  one  to  every  700.  In  his 
Insanity  and  Insane  Asylums  (Sacramento,  1872),  Dr.  E.  T. 
Wilkins,  Commissioner  in  Lunacy  for  the  State  of  Cali- 
fornia, states  (p.  211)  that  he  is  of  opinion  intoxication  is 
a far  mightier  cause  of  mental  diseases  than  all  other  causes 
put  together. 

In  Alcoholic  Insanity  (New  York,  1883),  Dr.  Lewis  D. 
Mason  says,  “ In  a study  of  600  cases  of  inebriety  treated 
at  the  Inebriate  Asylum,  Fort  Hamilton,  I found  that  166 
persons  had  309  attacks  of  alcoholic  mania  in  some  form 
at  various  times  during  their  periods  of  alcoholic  addiction. 
In  the  annual  report  of  the  New  York  State  Lunatic 
Asylum  for  1883,  of  the  412  cases  tabulated,  in  32,  or  in  a 
little  less  than  one  in  13,  ‘ intemperance  ’ was  stated  as  the 
exciting  cause.” 

The  last  United  States  census  shows  that  there  has 
been  a most  alarming  increase  in  the  number  of  lunatics 
and  idiots  during  the  last  decade ; while  the  population 
has  increased  by  30  per  cent.,  the  increase  of  the  insane  is 
given  as  a little  over  155  per  cent. 

In  his  Manual  of  Psychological  Medicine  (New  York, 
1883),  Dr.  Mann  says,  “ It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the 
complex  influences  that  intemperance  exerts  in  the  jmoduc- 
tion  of  insanity.  All  observers  agree  that  it  is  intimately 
connected  with,  and  is  one  of  the  main  exciting  causes  of, 
insanity.  . . . Many  superintendents  of  foreign  asylums 
have  estimated  the  admissions  from  intemperance  at  25  per 
cent,  or  higher,  including  not  only  the  proximate  but 
remote  cause  of  the  disease.  This  percentage  will  be 
largely  increased  if  we  take  into  account  the  great  number 
of  cases  in  which  intemperance  of  parents  causes  the 
insanity  or  idiocy  of  their  offspring.  Dr.  L.  Lunier  estimates 
that  50  per  cent,  of  all  the  idiots  and  imbeciles  to  be  found 


Dr.  Lee  on 

alcoholic 

insanity. 

Dr.  Wilkins 
on  the  same. 


Dr.  Mason’s 
statement. 


Dr.  Mann,  of 
New  York, 
on  alcoholic 
insanity. 


280 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Maxime  du 
Camp  on  the 
drink-petro- 
lomania  of 
Paris  during 
the  siege. 


Dr.  Baer  on 
the  deteriora- 
tion in  the 
French  army 
caused  by 
drink. 


in  the  large  cities  of  Europe  have  had  parents  who  were 
notorious  drunkards.” 

And  in  the  Revue  des  deux  blondes  (1872)  Maxime  du 
Camp  says  that  the  frequency  of  mental  diseases  in  Paris 
is  very  Largely  attributable  to  the  insobriety  which  has 
enormously  increased  there  during  the  last  two  years ; — 
that  in  the  siege  the  workman  drank  more  than  he  fought, 
and  under  the  Commune  drink  was  given  out  to  make 
them  fight ; that  in  nine  months’  time  Paris  consumed 
five  times  as  much  alcohol  as  formerly  in  one  year,  with 
the  results  of  prevalence  of  delirium  tremens,  and  the 
destructive  outbreak  of  petrolomania. 


Speaking  of  the  general  passion  for  drink  in  France, 
Dr.  Baer,  in  his  Alcoholismus  (Berlin,  1878),  deplores  the 
effect  of  this  evil  on  the  nation,  and  states  that  “ unpreju- 
diced and  highly  intelligent  men  attribute  the  severe 
defeats  in  the  last  war  with  Germany  in  no  small  degree 
to  the  disorder,  want  of  discipline,  and  incapability  of 
resistance  which  has  been  produced  and  nurtured  in  the 
French  army  by  the  predominant  craving  for  drink  in  both 
military  and  civil  life.* 

“ During  the  siege,  Paris  was  seized  by  a mental 
epidemic  of  acute  alcoholism,  and  alcoholism  is  one  of  the 
principal  sources  of  the  deeds  of  abomination  and  shame 
occurring  wdth  the  rising  of  the  Commune.” 

Official  statistics  show  that  in  1882  there  were  13,434 
admissions  to  the  French  asylums.  Of  these,  10,184  were 
new  cases.  The  total  number  treated  in  these  asylums 
during  the  year  was  58,760,  of  wrhom  31,000  were  women 
and  27,000  were  men ; and  it  is  estimated  that  a large 

* In  his  Hereditary  Alcoholism  (Medical  Thesis,  Paris,  1880), 
Dr.  Geudron  says  — 

“ If  we  require  proofs  of  the  effects  of  alcoholic  heredity  on  stature 
and  muscular  strength,  we  surely  find  them  in  the  recruiting  registers, 
which  show  that  certain  districts  where  alcoholism  prevails  cannot 
furnish  the  required  average  of  oonscripts.  The  arrondissement  of 
Domfront,  in  Normandy,  consumes  proportionately  the  largest  amount 
of  alcohol ; in  that  arrondissement  the  canton  of  Pussais  and  the  com- 
mune of  Mantilly  especially  are  notable  for  excessive  drinking  ; 
even  if  all  the  able-bodied  men  were  taken  in  Pussais,  the  recruitment 
would  still  be  insufficient,  and  Mantilly  is  in  this  respect  below  all 
other  communes.” 


SOCIAL  RESULTS. 


281 


proportion  of  this  yearly  augmenting  increase  is  due  to 
alcoholism. 

Dr.  E.  Lanceranx,  in  his  essay  On  Alcoholism,  and  its 
Consequences  (Paris,  1878),  charges  alcoholism  with  being 
a principal  cause  of  the  decrease  in  the  population  of 
France  and  other  countries.  “ Assisted  by  tuberculosis,” 
says  Dr.  Lanceraux,  “ alcoholism  has  long  been  one  of  the 
principal  causes  of  decreased  population  in  many  quarters 
of  the  world.  These  two  causes  united  have  contributed 
much  more  than  iron  or  fire  to  more  and  more  reduce  the 
number  of  natives  of  North  and  South  America.  To 
this  also  is  due  the  pi-ogressive  disparity  among  the 
inhabitants  of  a great  number  of  islands  in  the  Pacific  ; 
notably  the  Marquesas,  Sandwich,  Tahiti,  and  others. 
But  we  need  only  to  observe  what  is  going  on  in  our  own 
midst  to  recognize  alcohol  as  a cause  of  depopulation. 
Many  statisticians  and  economists  are  justly  alarmed  at 
the  decrease  in  population  of  one  of  the  most  favoured 
provinces  in  France,  and  each  furnishes  his  own  ex- 
planation of  the  fact.  If  we  examine  into  the  matter  we 
find  that  in  Normandy,  where  a great  quantity  of  brandy 
is  distilled,  alcoholism  is  most  rampant.  The  notion 
prevails  there  that  it  is  necessary  to  give  infants  wine 
and  liquor  in  order  to  strengthen  them.  This  pernicious 
habit,  together  with  the  general  alcoholic  excesses  so 
common  in  Normandy,  undoubtedly  form  one  of  the 
principal  sources  of  the  decreasing  population  of  this 
rich  province.” 

In  a recent  address  before  the  National  Association  for 
the  Protection  of  the  Insane,*  Dr.  Baer  said — 

“ In  comparing  the  number  of  drinking  saloons  in  the 
different  provinces  of  the  kingdom  of  Prussia  writh  the 
number  of  insane,  both  in  public  institutions  and  in  private 
families,  as  gleaned  from  the  census  report  of  1871,  I was 
enabled  to  show  conclusively  that  everywhere  where  the 
number  of  drinking  places,  i.e.,  the  consumption  of  alcohol, 
was  the  greatest,  the  number  of  insane  was  also  the  largest. 
Without  doubt,  to  my  mind,  it  is  in  alcohol  that  we  must 
look  for  and  will  find  the  most  potent  cause  of  the  develop- 
ment and  spread  of  mental  diseases.” 

* American  Psychological  Journal  (quarterly),  Philadelphia  (Oct. 
1883). 


Dr.  Baer,  of 
Berlin,  on 
alcohol  and 
insanity  in 
Prussia. 


282 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr.  Finkel- 
burg,  of  the 
Russian 
Health  Com- 
mission, on 
the  same  in 
Russia. 


The  Quarterly  Journal  of  Inebriety  (Hartford.  Con- 
necticut, U.S.),  October,  1883,  says  that,  “According  to 
Dr.  Finkelburg,  member  of  the  .Russian  Public  Health 
Commission,  alcoholic  liquors  cause  over  two-fifths  of  all 
the  insanity,  and  five-eighths  of  all  the  criminality.” 


( 283  ) 


CHAPTER  XI. 

ORIGIN  AND  CAUSES  OF  ALCOHOLISM. 

§ 68.  It  seems  probable,  from  the  great  sum  of  testimony 
■ — so  probable  that  it  may  be  assumed  as  certain — that 
there  was  a time  when  the  evil  habit  of  alcoholic  intoxication 
was  unknown  to  man.  According  to  Dr.  Baer,  many  races 
still  existing,  or  only  recently  extinct,  had  no  knowledge 
of  intoxicants. 

Dr.  E.  G . Figg,  in  his  paper  On  the  Physiological  ■ 
Operation  of  Alcohol  ( Temperance  Spectator,  London,  1862), 
cites  the  following  examples  : — 

“ The  Portuguese  and  other  Arctic  navigators  testify 
to  the  ignorance  of  the  frigid  zone  in  this  particular. 
Columbus  and  his  Spanish  successors  described  a race 
more  beautiful  and  refined  than  aborigines  generally  are, 
amongst  whom  no  trace  of  an  intoxicant  existed.  The 
French  gave  the  same  verdict  as  to  the  Northern  American 
continent,  and  the  English,  under  Cook,  so  far  as  Australia 
and  the  Polynesian  islands  are  concerned,  corroborate  the 
same  fact.  In  the  penetration  of  Africa  from  its  eastern 
or  western  coast,  it  has  not  been  seen  save  as  an  article  of 
importation.  In  fact,  in  every  locality  first  developed  to 
civilized  enterprise,  alcohol  in  any  of  its  varieties  was  un- 
known. Those  describing  the  early  habits  of  the  Calmuc 
Tartars  will  contest  this  statement,  insisting  that  the 
favourite  beverage  of  those  savages  was  a fermentation  of 
the  milk  of  mares.  The  truth  of  this  assertion  conceded, 
must  not  the  educated  chemist  at  once  understand  that 
the  fermentation  referred  to  was  merely  the  development 
of  lactic  acid  by  transposition  of  the  saccharine  element  in 
the  milk  ? In  his  description  of  the  Islands  of  the  South 


284 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Origin  of  the 
mischief. 


Pacific,  Melville  mentions  tlie  existence  of  a liquor 
affirmed  to  be  an  intoxicant  from  his  own  observation  of  its 
apparent  effect  on  those  who  partook  of  it.  The  mode 
of  preparation,  however,  refutes  the  idea  tliat  it  was  a 
fermented  fluid.  It  was  simply  the  expressed  juice  of  a 
herb  which  was  drunk  before  fermentation  could  have 
been  realized.  Independently  of  this,  we  have  the  positive 
testimony  of  John  Williams,  that  the  American  traders 
were  the  first  to  introduce  intoxicants,  and  the  earliest 
inebriators  of  these  Pacific  Islands.” 

But  in  the  most  remote  historic  period  the  use  of 
intoxicants  had  become  comparatively  common,  and,  with 
the  knowledge  we  now  possess  of  the  subtlety  and  stealthi- 
ness of  these  poisons,  we  can  easily  see  how  individuality 
was  undermined  by  their  use,  and  the  natural  passions 
changed  into  insatiable  demands,  before  man  really  under- 
stood the  origin  of  the  mischief.  And  as  his  awakening 
to  these  moral  effects  probably  took  place  only  when  the 
worst — the  weakening  of  his  power  to  resist — had  been 
accomplished,  he  invented,  as  moral  weakness  always  does, 
excuses  for  his  excesses. 

He  denied  the  evil  results  of  which  he  was  both  the 
illustration  and  proof.  He  ascribed  a host  of  excellent 
effects  to  alcohol.  When  these  benefits  failed  to  appear, 
and  harm  alone — harm  that  conld  not  be  hidden — followed 
upon  his  indulgences,  he  charged  the  trouble  to  Providence, 
or  to  the  blind  forces  of  nature,  and  posed  as  the  victim  of 
mysteries  with  which  he  could  not  hope  to  contend. 

These  pleas  are  made,  this  self-deception  is  practised 
still ; yet  it  is  man  who  put  himself  into  this  pit,  and  now 
at  last  he  knows  that  it  is  so,  and  that  it  is  he  who  must 
lift  himself  out. 

Bv  his  first  ignorant  indulgence  in  intoxication,  man 
placed  himself  in  a continuity  of  circumstances  which 
were  certain  to  drag  the  individual  and  the  race  to  lower 
and  lower  life-levels  ; not  necessarily  as  regards  outward 
appearances,  refinements,  and  comforts — civilization  has 
made  marvellous  progress  in  these  directions — but  as 
regards  the  highest  purposes  of  our  being  here  and  inhabit- 
ing bodies  at  all,  as  regards  our  discovering  and  obeying 
those  laws  of  eternal  truth  which  now  and  then  in  all  of 
us  force,  if  only  momentary,  recognition.  For  the  light  of 


ORIGIN  AND  CAUSES  OF  ALCOHOLISM. 


285 


the  Crown  held  vainly  over  the  head  of  the  man  with  the 
muck-rake  does  sometimes  penetrate  with  a moment’s 
flash  the  rubbish  we  grope  in. 

§ 69.  The  development  of  the  race  is  like  that  of  the  Likeness  in 
individual : it  begins  in  both  in  an  eager  desire  to  be  happy  ^en^ofrace 
and  an  eager  search  for  the  means  of  happiness.  and  in- 

The  baby  finds  this  desire  satisfied  with  plenty  of  milk,  Then?-*' 
warmth,  soft  couching,  and  slumber.  His  mother’s  bosom,  dividual 
and  the  bed  where  he  lies  with  her,  makes  his  world.  happiness. 

A little  later,  the  horizon  widens  to  the  walls  of  the 
room  and  the  vaguely  wondered-at  shining  spaces  which 
the  windows  show.  He  finds  that  it  hurts  to  fall.  The 
result  is  instantly  unpleasant.  He  becomes  cautious. 

He  finds  that  raisins  taste  good,  that  sugar  is  delicious. 

He  eats  of  these  voraciously.  The  result  is  immediate 
pleasure ; and  when  nausea  and  headache  follow,  it  is  the 
nurse  or  mamma  who  is  to  blame,  not  his  own  gluttony. 

By  the  time  he  has  learned  the  last  fact,  the  raisin  and 
sugar-eating  habit  is  formed,  and  stands  mightily  in  the 
way  of  reform.  The  pleasure  is  sweet  and  immediate.  He 
tries  to  assure  himself  that  the  pain  coming  after  is  due 
to  some  other  cause  ; to  anything  he  is  willing  to  give  up, 
rather  than  to  the  one  thing  he  is  unwilling  to  resign. 

He  is  still  a child,  to  whom  the  self  of  the  senses  is  all 
the  self  and  all  of  happiness  or  unhappiness  that  exists. 

As  he  grows  older,  various  things — the  widening  of  his 
visible  world,  the  strange  interest  felt  in  his  own  growth, 
the  influence  of  companions  and  circumstances,  the  care 
and  guidance  of  his  parents,  etc.,  etc. — have  all  had  their 
effect  on  his  development ; he  has  learned  some  self- 
restraint,  gained  some  little  knowledge  of  himself,  of  his 
relations  to  others  ; and,  if  his  circumstances  have  been 
very  favourable  to  moral  growth,  he  begins  to  see  that  the 
senses  do  not  compass  the  whole  meaning  of  happiness, 
and  learns  that  they  are  not  even  a chief  part  of  it,  that 
happiness  lies  not  in  having  good  things  for  himself,  but 
in  being  worthy  to  have  good  things,  whether  they  come 
or  not;  by  desiring,  above  all  things,  the  rights  and 
happiness  of  others  ; by  doing  heartily  all  he  can  to  bring 
about  general  happiness — universal  happiness ; and  thus 
actually,  genuinely,  and  really  being  happy  himself. 

The  child,  grown  to  maturity  in  this  way,  leads  a large 


286 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


life  and  a complete  life,  whatever  his  condition  or  position 
may  happen  to  be,  becanse  he  irradiates  real  happiness. 
He  is  a centre  from  which  it  rays  ont,  wherever  that  centre 
he  placed ; and  this  irradiation  has  a widening  effect,  like 
that  of  the  circle  around  the  stone  cast  in  the  water:  it 
never  stops  short  of  the  two  shores  of  life — the  shore  of 
the  beginning  and  the  shore  of  the  unending. 

Self-denials  for  the  sake  of  others  are  his  dearest 
indulgences,  and  as  far  removed  in  essence  and  effect  from 
the  morbid,  anchoretic,  nobody-benefiting  sacrifices  of 
St.  Simon  Stylites  and  his  ilk  as  the  shower  of  sweet 
spring  rain  is  different  from  the  outbreak  of  a sewer. 

He  will  not  think  for  one  moment  of  the  pleasure  to 
him  of  an  otherwise  perfectly  innocent  indulgence,  if  his 
having,  means  temptation  and  struggle  for  any  other. 
The  happiness  of  the  senses,  of  self,  has  given  place  to  the 
only  true  or  lasting  happiness,  the  happiness  of  Abou 
Ben-Adhem,  who  “loved  his  fellow-men  ! ” 

But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  child  is  not  well  trained, 
if  his  circumstances  are  those  of  the  foolishly  indulged 
and  pampered  household  pet,  however  talented  and  clever 
he  may  be,  and  whatever  else  he  may  learn,  he  grows  up 
grossly  and  fatally  ignorant  of  what  he  is  here  for,  of  what 
is  due  from  himself  to  himself,  of  what  is  due  from  him  to 
others.  He  is  a centre  from  which  radiates  discontent, 
greed,  tyranny — towards  whom  must  flow  constant  tribute. 
He  will  deny  himself  nothing  that  he  desires — no,  not 
even  for  his  own  good,  much  less  for  the  rights  and 
happiness  of  another.  He  is  lonely,  because  he  has  spoiled 
himself  for  his  own  society ; and  over  those  who  must  be 
with  him  he  exerts  an  influence  which,  however  it  may 
stir  disgust,  also  contaminates  and  gradually  drags  them 
into  more  or  less  real  fellowship  with  him ; for  the 
spectacle  of  selfishness,  continually  triumphing  in  its 
exactions,  is  one  of  the  most  deteriorating  in  its  effects 
upon  those  who  must  constantly  behold  it.  And  especially 
great  is  the  ascendency  of  this  kind  of  evil  with  the 
individual  and  with  society,  when  it  is  accompanied  by  the 
intellectual  flashes  and  eccentric  humours,  the  shallow, 
sudden  generosities — purely  for  sensation  sake,  but  cited 
as  virtues — which  convivial  circles  so  much  affect. 

As  with  the  individual,  so  with  the  race.  In  its  infancy 


The  race 


ORIGIN  AND  CAUSES  OF  ALCOHOLISM. 


2S7 


it  found  the  taste  of  alcohol  as  the  babe  found  the  sugar — 
sweet.  The  pain  that  came  after  it,  it  would  not  heed,  and 
when  at  last  forced  to  heed  by  overwhelming  evil  results, 
it  sought,  like  the  sugar- nauseated  child,  to  secure  itself 
in  its  now  all-enthralling  habit  by  evasions  and  specious 
reasonings. 

Later  on,  as  the  race  grew  into  knowledge  of  things 
good  and  evil,  we  have  seen  how,  in  spite  of  great  general 
advancement  in  many  things — in  spite  of  enormous  strides 
in  all  directions  of  scientific,  philosophical,  artistic,  and 
material  knowledge — in  spite,  too,  of  what  steam  and  elec- 
tricity have  done  to  melt  and  forge  the  nations,  tribes,  and 
peoples  into  one  brotherhood — a fraternity  in  no  way  so 
cruelly  betrayed  as  in  its  mutual  upholding  and  guiltiness 
of  this  deadly  universal  vice — in  spite,  too,  of  single  in- 
stances of  the  noblest  individual  heroism  and  self-abnega- 
tion, of  decades  here  and  there  in  which  national  life  and 
character  have  shone  with  extraordinary  lustre  of  inspira- 
tion for  all  succeeding  time — still  we  find  that  the  habit  of 
alcoholic  intoxication  which  the  race  formed  in  its  child- 
hood has  been  suffered  to  grow  with  its  growth,  and  so 
poisons  us  in  our  maturity  that  we  do  not,  as  a race,  yet 
comprehend  what  happiness  is,  but  still  continue  to  mistake 
the  temporary  exaltations  of  alcohol,  and  other  sense- 
excitants,  for  real  glimpses  of  that  highest  scope  and 
regnancy  of  being  from  which  it  shuts  us  out  and  down. 

Reasoning  from  the  past,  we  may  feel  sure  that  the 
instinct  of  progress,  the  laws  of  development,  of  evolution, 
which  are  coeval  with  man,  must  be  his  essential  nature  so 
long  as  he  exists.  The  eager  desire  to  be  happy,  the  eager 
search  for  happiness,  will  go  on. 

And  we  may  comfort  ourselves  at  the  outset  with  the 
certainty  that  this  desire,  this  search,  this  resistless  out- 
reaching  impulse  of  man  must  in  itself  be  good,  for  it  is 
part  of  man  as  God  made  him.  By  it  God  is  perpetually 
calling  to  man,  “ Seek  Me,  find  Me,  and  in  Me  find  eternal 
life,  eternal  joy  ! ” 

But  what  concerns  us  instantly  and  mightily  is  to  find 
out  what  to  seek,  and  how  to  seek  it. 

A little  child  stands  alone  at  night  in  a great  forest. 
He  gropes  for  light,  even  though  not  quite  understanding 
what  light  is  or  what  it  can  do  for  him.  A bright  star, 


searches  for 
happiness. 


Both  mis- 
take the 
ignis  fatuus 
for  the  star. 


288 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


First 
gropings 
toward 
knowledge 
by  means  of 
the  senses. 


Alcohol 
believed  to 
be  a great 


twinkling  in  the  sky  just  over  his  father’s  roof,  sends  a 
long  white  ray- — straight  as  truth  is  straight — by  which 
the  little  one,  if  he  only  sees  it,  can  go  directly  to  his 
father’s  door.  But  at  the  same  moment  a glow-worm, 
flitting  and  flashing  before  him,  seems  to  his  unlearned  eye 
a nearer  and  brighter  light,  and  he  stumbles  after  it 
through  bog  and  mire.  At  moments  he  clasps  it  in  delight, 
but  again  and  again  it  eludes,  it  escapes,  or,  being  clutched, 
flares  up  and  fades  out;  while  the  deluded  child,  bruised 
and  cold,  goes  ever  farther  and  farther  from  home. 

He  was  right  to  search  for  light — the  tiny  immortal 
spark  within  him  made  such  search  natural  and  certain. 
But  he  lacked  wisdom  to  distinguish  between  the  phantom- 
flame  of  the  will-o’-the-wisp  and  the  pure  perennial  ray  of 
the  star ; and  when  the  alternations  of  feverish  triumph 
and  bitter  disappointment  had  taught  him  his  mistake, 
he  was  exhausted — he  lacked  strength  to  return — and 
besides,  the  star  had  grown  to  look  very  far  away  and  dim. 
for  the  fitful  glimmer  he  followed  had  weakened  his  eyes, 
and  the  habit  of  chasing  it  drew  him  on  till  he  sank  to 
rise  no  more. 

So  with  man  in  the  earliest  stages  of  his  development. 
The  world  of  sensation  was  the  first  in  which  he  found 
himself.  His  reasoning  faculties  first  applied  themselves 
here,  and  held  back  his  spiritual  perceptions.  What  felt 
good,  what  felt  bad ; what  he  wanted,  what  he  didn’t 
want ; what  he  liked  to  do,  and  what  he  didn’t  like  to  do ; 
these  things  guided  him.  He  did  not  analyze  second,  third, 
and  fourth  results. 

And  in  this  stage  of  being  his  search  for  happiness, 
instead  of  leading  him  out  and  up  in  life,  chained  him  to 
himself.  He  was  his  own  horizon,  his  own  zenith  and 
nadir ; for  self-seeking — that  is,  the  effort  to  please  and 
gratify  only  one’s  self — can  only  go  on  within  the  life  of 
the  senses.  Pleasurable  sensations,  physical  delights ; 
separated  from  all  thought  or  care  for  the  rights  and 
delights  of  others ; to  be  gained  at  the  expense  of  these,  at 
any  cost,  so  that  they  are  gained  ; these  have  been  and  are 
the  self-seeker’s  ideal  of  happiness — to  him  the  glow-worm 
inevitably  obscures  the  star. 

And  in  alcohol  he  believed  he  had  found  the  crowning 
agent  for  producing  a strange  pleasure  of  its  own,  which 


ORIGIN  AND  CAUSES  OF  ALCOHOLISM. 


289 


had  also  power  to  enhance  and  vary  kindred  pleasures  in- 
dulged in  with  it.* 

By  this  undue  development  of  the  senses,  the  normal 
appetites,  tastes,  and  passions  of  man  were  transformed 
into  the  various  lusts  of  the  flesh ; the  lust  of  acquisition, 
arraying  him  against  his  brother  in  bloody  conquests  for 
power,  for  possessions,  making  him  covet  Naboth’s  vineyard 
and  Naboth’s  wife ; the  lust  of  ease,  making  him  deaf  to 
the  cry  of  the  down-trodden  and  impoverished,  lest  to  listen 
should  prove  troublesome ; the  lust  of  gold,  that  Shylock 
lust  whose  sordid  outcry,  “ Oh,  my  ducats,  my  ducats  ! Oh, 
my  daughter ! ” shows  to  what  level  the  lust  of  gold  can 
sink  the  sacredest  ties  of  love ; the  lust  of  the  eye,  which 
turns  men' and  wpmen  into  birds  of  prey,  and  manhood  and 
womanhood  into  moral  quicksands,  where  modesty,  love, 
and  the  divine  purposes  of  sex  are  irrecoverably  degraded 
and  lost. 

But  while  this  was  going  on  through  the  ages,  the 
spiritual  and  mental  powers  of  man  were  also  slowly  un- 
folding and  beginning  to  struggle  through  the  meshes 
woven  by  the  senses ; beginning  also,  though  at  first  but 
dimly  and  fitfully,  to  assert  their  sway  as  masters  in  the 
stead  of  the  usurping  senses,  and  to  find  that  these,  in  their 
headlong,  egoistic,  untutored  search  for  happiness,  had 
produced  conditions  wholly  foreign  to  it. 

* Of  course,  I do  not  mean  to  imply  that  the  senses  are  in  them- 
selves coarse  or  degrading,  or  that  all  self-seeking  is  plainly  and 
vulgarly  manifested,  as  the  foregoing  might  seem  to  imply.  The 
senses  are  what  they  should  be,  when  bearing  their  proper  relation  of 
capable  and  docile  servants  to  the  rounded  individuality  of  man.  But 
when  they  lead  and  control,  they  lose  the  invaluable  qualities  of  the 
faithful  servant,  without  gaining  one  quality  by  which  they  can  fitly 
lead.  And  the  man  who  abdicates  to  his  senses,  descends  from  the 
throne  where  God  placed  him,  and  submits  his  head  to  his  own  heel. 
This  is  the  condition  of  him  whose  search  for  happiness  begins  and 
ends  with  self ; and  it  is  an  openly  low  or  apparently  refined  condition 
according  to  the  great  differences  in  the  temperaments,  personal  con- 
ditions, and  surroundings  of  men.  And  alcohol — more  than  all  intoxi- 
cants— has  great  paramount  power  to  bring  about  this  surrender  to 
the  senses ; for,  as  is  well  known  and  indisputable,  passions  of  which 
man  is  master  in  a sober  state,  alcohol  will  not  only  fire  beyond  his 
control,  but  reinforce  with  others  that  never  awakened  in  sobriety, 
and  make  him  do  scores  of  shameful  things  of  which,  but  for  its  in- 
fluence, he  would  be  utterly  incapable. 

U 


agent  for 
producing 
happiness. 
Natural 
appetites 
and  passions 
changed  into 
unnatural 
lusts  by  the 
abnormal 
development 
of  the  senses. 


Spiritual  and 
mental  pro- 
gress under 
these  con- 
ditions. 


290 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  two 
great 

factions  into 
which  this 
development 
has  divided 
mankind. 
The  graspers 
who  succeed. 


The  graspers 
who  fail. 


Alcohol  a 
powerful 
agent  in 
restricting 
man  to  the 
life  of  the 
senses. 


Egoism  and  sensuality  had  put  the  world  “ out  of  joint,'’ 
had  dismembered  it,  as  it  were,  into  two  great  factions — 
the  graspers  who  succeed,  and  the  graspers  who  fail. 

The  first  are  the  few,  but  the  all-powerful  in  having 
secured  more  than  the  lion’s  share  of  this  world’s  treasures 
and  possessions,  and  the  power  to  continue  to  gain  and  hold 
these  ; in  having  absorbed  to  their  own  service  the  results 
of  the  general  total  of  physical  and  mental  labour;  and 
who  have,  by  the  processes  thus  resulting,  as  well  as  by 
the  result  itself,  so  removed  themselves  from  the  other 
faction  that,  though  they  know  it  exists,  they  do  not  under- 
stand the  elements  of  which  it  is  composed  ; are  cold  to  its 
necessities,  deaf  to  its  claims,  stone-blind  to  their  own 
responsibilities  toward  it,  and  therefore  fatally  indifferent 
to,  fatally  ignorant  of,  the  tragedy  to  which  it  tends. 

The  other  faction — the  graspers  who  do  not  succeed, 
who,  in  the  same  self-seeking  struggle  for  an  ignis-fatuus 
happiness,  have  been  driven  to  the  wall — they  are  innumer- 
able, and  they  ignorantly  hate  and  envy  those  whom  they 
fancy  have  attained  the  object  of  the  unequal  conflict,  not 
seeing  that  victory  which  consists  in  satisfaction  of  self  and 
the  senses  is  really  a worse  defeat  than  their  own,  so  far  as 
true  happiness  is  concerned ; for  it  is  of  the  rich  man  that 
it  is  written,  he  shall  not  easily  enter  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  while  thfe  poor  man  is  assured  he  shall,  if  he  only 
will,  find  that  kingdom  within  him. 

Yet  perhaps  these — the  poor,  the  depressed — see  a little 
further  into  the  portent  of  this  unnatural  struggle ; they 
have  so  little  to  hoard,  so  little  treasure  to  guard,  that  they 
hoard  their  own  sense  of  wrong — not  always  seeing  where 
blame  is  due — and  count  over  the  coin  of  disappointment 
which  gluts  the  mints  of  resentment  and  despair. 

In  this  tension,  neither  the  rich  nor  the  poor  are  happy, 
neither  are  blameless.  Both  feel  the  undying  yearning 
which  selfishness  has  done  its  utmost  to  destroy ; life, 
exhausted  in  the  intermittent,  swiftly  cloying  pleasures 
of  the  senses,  beats  wearily  upon  worn-out  strings  that 
scarcely  can  any  longer  vibrate.  And  one  means  all- 
powerful  in  producing  and  protracting  this  delusion,  a 
means  which  more  than  any  other  has  misled  man’s 
search,  and  has  done  more  than  any  other  to  place  and 
keep  him  in  the  world  of  the  senses,  in  spite  of  spiritual 


ORIGIN  AND  CAUSES  OF  ALCOHOLISM. 


291 


and  mental  progress,  a means  within  the  reach  of  all, 
clamoured  for  by  all,  and  to  be  had  in  abundance  by  poor 
as  well  as  rich,  is  alcohol. 

In  his  profound  work,  The  Arts  of  Intoxication  (London, 
1877),  the  Rev.  Dr.  Crane  says — 

“ He  that  gave  our  nature  its  depths  did  not  design 
that  those  depths  should  be  stirred  by  trifles.  He  gave 
them,  not  for  luxury,  but  for  utility  in  the  great  aim  and 
work  of  life.  He  never  intended  that  the  deepest,  richest 
tones  of  our  nature  should  be  evoked  by  every  careless 
touch  of  the  keys.  Human  wants,  human  affections,  the 
demands  which  belong  to  time,  and  the  infinite  motives 
which  come  to  us  from  the  eternal  world  are  all  designed 
to  touch  each  its  appropriate  spring.  The  exalted  enjoy- 
ments of  devotion  should  be  richer,  sweeter  to  our  souls  a 
thousandfold  than  all  worldly  success  or  worldly  pleasure. 
And  every  right  affection,  every  rational  hope  and  desire, 
is  meant  to  be  a motive  power,  and,  according  to  its  value, 
to  stir  the  heart  and  breathe  into  the  soul  inspirations  which 
lend  light  to  the  eyes,  make  the  cheek  glow,  send  the  blood 
bounding  along  its  channels.  . . . Man  has  made  a fearful 
discovery,  not  how  to  produce,  but  how  to  imitate  these 
true  exaltations.  He  has  learned  how  to  counterfeit  the 
golden  coin  with  which  God  pays  the  worthy  labourer. 
It  has  been  discovered  that  certain  poisonous  drugs, 
differing  in  the  kind  and  degree  of  their  effects,  are  potent 
to  lay  a spell  upon  soul  and  body ; and,  while  every  mental 
faculty  is  unhinged,  and  every  physical  power  is  benumbed, 
and  the  whole  being  rendered  helpless  and  degraded,  the 
abused  body  may  lie  steeped  in  sensuous  enjoyment,  and 
the  abused  mind  be  cheated  wdth  a seeming  consciousness 
of  unwonted  activity  and  augmented  force  and  brilliancy. 
And  men  have  learned  to  covet  the  fleeting  unnatural 
pleasures.  For  the  sake  of  an  hour  of  such  fevered  dreams 
man  is  willing  to  face  the  horrors  of  a return  to  realities 
which  his  guilty  pleasures  have  despoiled  of  honour,  peace, 
and  virtue  ; is  ready  to  pay  the  price  of  days  of  lassitude 
and  gloom,  and  even  of  pain,  remorse,  and  death.” 

Self-deception,  then,  has  made  man  miss  happiness — 
the  happiness  of  the  perfectly  harmonious  individual 
being  and  of  the  perfectly  harmonized  community  of  beings 
into  which  it  was  intended  he  should  develop,  and,  by 


Dr.  Crane  on 
The  Arts  of 
Intoxication. 


True  ex- 
altation 
counterfeited 
by  the 
fleeting 
excitement 
of  alcohol. 


Man's  self- 
deception 
has  made 
him  miss 
happiness 
all  round. 


292 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


In  religion. 
In  science. 

An  illustra- 
tion of  this. 


circumscribing  him  to  the  partial  world  of  the  senses,  has 
made  him  miss  the  truth  at  every  turn,  in  religion  no  less 
than  in  science. 

In  religion  it  has  made  him  manufacture  a God  and  a 
scheme  of  salvation  by  which  he  escapes  all  responsibility 
for  his  own  being  and  doing.  In  science  it  has  made  him 
insist  that  the  senses  bound  the  entire  world  of  scientific 
research  and  possibility ; that  what  cannot  be  demonstrated 
by  or  to  the  senses  has  no  existence  ; while,  by  the 
abnormal  disproportionate  development  of  the  senses,. the 
clue  they  might  afford  in  a state  of  perfect  balance  with 
the  other  powers  is  lost. 

Eor  example,  let  us  imagine  that  a man  has  grown  up 
without  physical  action  ; that  he  has  for  years  been  sitting 
in  an  artificial  frame,  which  has  locked  all  his  muscles  in 
perfect  stillness,  with  the  exception  of  his  ankles  and  feet ; 
that  these  have  done  all  the  motion,  all  the  living,  for  the 
whole  system,  even  to  his  having  been  fed  through  them 
by  the  process  of  cutaneous  absorption  ; that,  in  this  way, 
though  having  originally  all  the  component  parts  of  feet, 
they  have  lost  all  resemblance  to  feet  as  we  see  them 
in  the  healthy  human  frame  ; are  distorted,  unsightly, 
monstrous,  incapable  of  bearing  him  up,  their  very  size 
being  part  of  their  weakness  for  all  the  natural  purposes 
of  feet. 

The  head  of  this  man  is  but  a little  knob,  his  frame 
puny  and  shrunken,  he  lacks  all  that  ranks  him  with 
normal  man,  he  lives  only  in  his  feet.  If  he  were  to  be 
muffled  and  covered,  so  that  all  of  him  but  his  feet  were 
entirely  hidden,  and  a physiologist  should  then  be  called 
in  to  say,  without  help  of  any  explanation,  what  the  two 
objects  were  and  to  what  manner  of  creature  they  belonged, 
he  would  be  quite  excusable  if  he  did  not  know  them 
as  feet,  or  if,  guessing  so  far  correctly,  he  constructed 
anything  but  a man  for  the  rest  of  the  creature  ! 

Change  the  picture  and  transfer  the  developmental 
excess  to  any  other  member,  or  organ,  or  set  of  functions  ; 
the  result  must  always  be  equally  false  to  nature  and 
truth,  because  equally  out  of  balance  with  them.  The  fault 
is  not  with  the  parts  or  powers  excessively  developed,  nor 
with  those  lying  arbitrarily  dormant ; it  lies  in  the  false 
method,  the  spurious  process  producing  these. 


ORIGIN  AND  CAUSES  OF  ALCOHOLISM. 


203 


Just  as  the  framed  man’s  feet  lost  all  the  fine  inter- 
flowing curves,  the  subtle,  complex  elasticities  which  lend 
themselves  to  the  miracle  of  walking,  so  the  spirit  and  the 
mind  of  man,  chained  down  to  the  special  development  of 
the  senses — which  should  only  know  themselves  through 
his  controlling  and  aspiring  consciousness  of  their  real 
purposes— have  been  excluded  from  the  realization  of  the 
exquisite  happiness  which  God  Himself  cannot  bestow 
until  His  child  can  conceive  it ; and  of  which  man  only 
first  conceives  when  first  he  seeks  the  happiness  of  his 
kind,  and  learns  that  by  this  path  only  comes  happiness 
to  meet  himself ; and,  in  learning  this,  learns  also  not  to 
seek  it  for  its  own  sake,  even  though  by  the  right  way  of 
first  securing  it  to  others,  but  to  seek  it  for  the  sake  of 
that  blessing  to  others,  by  which  it  comes. 

How  is  this  proven  F 

Because  when  we  seek  happiness  in  this  way  we  have 
it,  serene,  uncloying,  rich,  satisfying,  constant,  and  this 
though  we  have  nothing  else  that  men  call  pleasant  and 
good  ; while,  on  the  other  hand,  in  the  height  of  physical, 
sensuous  self-gratification,  we  are  always  conscious  of  the 
gnawing  of  for  ever  unsatisfied  desire  at  the  core  of  life,  of 
vague  yet  deep  disappointment  and  emptiness,  and  thus 
the  goad  of  endless  craving  follows  the  ever-artificial 
supply. 

And  hence,  with  all  our  apparent  advancement,  we  are 
to  this  day  still  writhing  in  fratricidal  strife  at  the  feet  of 
insatiable  false  gods,  and  as  man  sought  alcohol  first  for 
pleasure,  thinking  it  happiness,  so  now  we,  wiser,  but, 
alas ! not  stronger,  drink  to  forget,  and  if  we  can  to  dream, 
instead  of  to  know ; for  drink  has  proven  like  the  iron 
frame  which  has  suffered  only  the  feet  to  grow. 

§ 70.  The  first  cause  of  the  hold  alcohol  has  obtained 
upon  man  being  that,  in  mistaking  the  gratification  of  the 
senses  for  the  happiness  he  was  born  to  seek  and  realize, 
he  mistook  alcohol  for  its  great  agent ; the  next,  or 
supplementary  causes — constituting  very  formidable  rein- 
forcements— may  be  classed  as  follows  : — ( a ) the  physical, 
( h ) the  psychical ; the  first  relating  to  food  and  various 
luxurious  indulgences,  notably,  the  use  of  tobacco. 

It  is  a generally  recognized  fact  that  what  is  called  “high 
living,”  the  use  of  highly  spiced  dishes,  and  the  whole 


What  happi- 
ness is,  and 
how  alone  it 
can  be  found. 


Supple- 
mentary 
causes : ex- 
plaining the 
power 
alcohol  has 
obtained 
over  man- 
kind. 


294 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  force  of 
example 
because  of 
the  sym- 
pathetic 
unity  of  the 
race. 


Plutarch  on 
the  force  of 
association. 


range  of  epicurean  habits  provoke  a desire  for  alcoholic 
liquors.  This  is  largely  due  to  the  vitiation  of  taste  and 
appetite,  which  sensuality  in  any  of  its  forms  must 
inevitably  produce,  and  unnatural  feeding  not  only  vitiates 
the  taste,  hut  by  imposing  too  much  labour  on  the 
stomach  prompts  it  to  call  for  irritant  ; and  tobacco, 
although  it  acts  to  a certain  extent  as  a counterpoison  to 
alcohol,  creates  by  its  vitiation  of  both  taste  and  smell,  a 
demand  for  stronger  tasting  and  stronger  smelling  foods, 
and  these,  again,  because  of  their  indigestible  character, 
call  for  an  excitation  of  more  than  the  natural  supply  of 
the  gastric  fluids  ; and  thus  it  is  seen  that  in  the  physical, 
as  in  the  mental  sphere  of  life,  one  wrong  begets  another, 
and  all  are  linked  in  various  circles  that,  like  the  lessening 
walls  of  the  “ Iron  Shroud ,”  press  closer  and  closer  until 
the  victim  is  crushed. 

The  psychical  causes  may  be  divided  into — (1)  The 
force  of  example,  because  of  the  sympathetic  unity  of  the 
race ; (2)  the  force  of  habit,  because  of  natural  laws ; 
(3)  the  force  of  hereditary  habit ; (4)  the  force  of  habit 
become  instinct ; (5)  the  force  of  habit-formed  instinct 
become  nature  in  a depraved  sense. 

The  fact  that  humanity  has  a common  basis  of  under- 
standing— if  only  that  of  signs — indicates  a common 
bond  stretching  along  the  whole  line  of  human  con- 
sciousness. The  reality  of  this  bond  is  manifested  in 
the  tremendous  power  which  example,  habit,  and  custom 
have  over  us,  and  God’s  purpose  in  this  bond  is  seen  in 
the  impossibility  it  creates,  for  man’s  happily  and  pros- 
perously ignoring — either  as  individual,  community,  or 
nation — the  divine  command  to  love  our  neighbour  as 
ourself. 

The  force  of  example  is  tersely  expressed  in  Plutarch’s 
words  : “ If  you  associate  with  a cripple  you  will  soon 
learn  to  limp  yourself,”  and  in  the  popular  proverb,  “ One 
is  known  by  the  company  he  keeps.” 

That  this  teaching  can  be  abused ; that  it  can  be 
cunningly  turned  into  a defence  for  the  grossest  selfish- 
ness ; can  be  made  to  bear  false  witness  against  Plutarch 
as  one  who  would  have  unfortunates  and  victims  generally 
abandoned  to  their  fate ; can  be  made  to  serve  as  justification 
for  never  approaching  the  fallen  and  depraved — and,  in  a 


ORIGIN  AND  CAUSES  OF  ALCOHOLISM. 


295 


word,  to  make  mercy  and  compassion  intruders  among  the 
human  virtues — does  not  affect  its  true  force  of  warning 
against  the  kind  of  association  and  sympathy  which  de- 
presses and  weakens  the  sympathizer  without  cheering  or 
benefiting  the  sufferer,  while  it  does  help  to  further  pro- 
nounce the  fact  that  sympathy , whether  conscious  or  un- 
conscious, sensible  or  sentimental,  unselfish  or  self-seeking, 
does  powerfully,  variously,  and  constantly  affect  our 
development.  All  progress  hangs  upon  it,  because  only 
by  this  bond  do  we  have  to  do  with  one  another. 

Were  we  separate — that  is,  insulated  entities — we  could 
not  co-operate,  we  could  not  learn  or  profit  from  each 
other’s  mistakes  or  successes,  we  should  not  really  be 
living  in  any  sense  in  which  as  sympathetic  beings  we 
conceive  of  life. 

Thomas  Tryon,  in  his  work  On  the  Method  of  Educating 
Children  (London,  1695),  says  of  the  force  of  example, 
“ The  Fear  of  God,  Temperance,  Cleanliness,  and  Frugality, 
are  taught  by  precept  and  example,  even  as  Arts  and 
Sciences  are.  ...  If  the  Children  see  no  disorderly  nor 
intemperate  Examples,  but  have  the  Representation  and 
Character  of  the  contrary  Virtues  continually  placed  before 
their  Eyes,  they  will  undoubtedly  conform  themselves  to 
that  Image.” 

In  his  Commentaries  on  Tobacco  (Sydney,  1853),  T. 
Campbell  says,  “ The  habitual  intercourse  of  persons, 
the  communion  of  sentiments,  unanimity  of  opinion,  and 
the  silent  underworking  force  of  imitation  conspire  to 
engender  a sameness  of  ideas,  a similitude  of  character 
among  members  of  the  same  group,  and  these,  extending 
from  groups  to  communities,  cemented  by  the  ties  of 
common  privileges,  unity  of  interests,  and  a common 
attachment  to  place  of  birth,  probably  form  the  ground- 
work of  all  patriotism. 

“ Imitation  is  an  essentially  active  energy  in  the  con- 
stitution of  man,  and  one  of  the  elements  of  habit.  In 
youth  especially  we  copy  something  of  every  human  action 
or  manner  presented  to  our  observation.  It  is  in  constant 
operation  in  every  stage  of  life,  and  is  so  potent  that 
persons  living  long  together  will  insensibly  acquire  a 
mutual  resemblance  in  some  points,  so  that  it  may  be  said 
all  society  is  a school  of  design,  and  every  individual  is  a 


T.  Campbell 
on  the  in- 
fluence and 
effects  of 
habitual  in- 
tercourse in 
daily  life. 


The  force  of 
habit  because 
of  natural 
laws. 


296 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Conscious 
and  openly 
acknow- 
ledged 
effects. 


model  for  good  or  for  evil  to  every  other  individual.  Each 
takes  his  copy,  too,  with  all  the  secrecy  of  profound  uncon- 
sciousness, which  enables  the  imitative  faculty  in  man  to 
operate  on  the  mind  with  an  energy  so  much  the  more 
sure  and  effective,  engraining  the  lights  and  shades  in 
the  pattern  of  the  moral  copyright  with  almost  indelible 
fixedness  of  colouring.” 

And  besides  the  power  of  example  which  th  w pro- 
foundly affects  without  our  being  directly  aware  of  it,  there 
is  its  openly  acknowledged  force.  “ Why  should  I not 
drink  ? ” says  the  clergyman ; * “ the  canon,  the  vicar,  the 
bishop,  drink.  What  they  do,  surely  I may.”  “ And  as 
for  me,”  says  the  common  soldier,  “ I don’t  pretend  to  be 
better  or  wiser  than  our  general,  colonel,  captain ; they 
all  take  their  glass  like  gentlemen,  why  not  IP  ” “The 
master  has  his  wines,”  says  the  working  man,  “why 

* The  Daily  Telegraph  (April  24,  1883)  thus  pertinently  com- 
ments on  the  cases  of  Captain  Eobinson  and  the  clergyman’s  son 
Beaumont : — 

“John  Joseph  Beaumont’s  story  is  sad.  Already,  at  twenty-six 
years,  he  is  said,  by  his  drunken  habits,  to  have  ruined  his  father,  a 
clergyman  of  the  Establishment,  and  forced  him  to  resign  a com- 
fortable living.  Appointed  to  a small  office  in  the  Inland  Ee  venue, 
Beaumont  was  turned  away  because  of  his  habitual  insobriety ; and 
now  he  passes  his  time  between  delirium  tremens  out  of  doors  and 
convalescence  in  St.  Pancras  Workhouse.  The  law  of  to-day,  unlike 
that  of  the  past,  does  not  recognize  destitution,  from  whatever  cause, 
as  a punishable  offence,  and  he  is  now  at  liberty  to  go  on  ruining  his 
relations — provided  that  field  be  not  already  closed  to  his  enterprise 
— contracting  delirium  tremens,  and  knocking  for  admission  at  the 
woi'khouse  door,  until,  fading  reformation,  death  cuts  short  his 
disgraceful  career.  Why  men  like  Captain  Eobertson  and  Hr. 
Beaumont  help  to  swell  the  score  of  life’s  failures  is  a mystery  beyond 
solution  (?).  Both  are  apparently  well-bred;  both  are  more  than 
ordinarily  well-educated.  They  had  chances  given  them.  The  ball 
was  at  their  feet.  Poets  and  publicists  point  to  the  examples  of 
what  are  called  self-made  men  as  being  wonderful.  We  hear  of 
lads  born  in  thatched  cottages,  and  brought  up  at  the  plough’s  tad, 
yet  pressing  through  to  the  front,  seizing  upon  the  prizes  of  life,  and 
becoming  wealthy  in  the  mart,  or  renowned  at  the  bar,  in  the  senate, 
and  the  councils  of  the  State.  In  point  of  fact,  such  thrice-ennobled 
representatives  of  the  Peerage  of  Genius  are  natural  products  of 
civdized  society.  We  are  to  watch  for  their  advent  and  greet  them 
with  applause.  Vet  not  they,  but  the  weeds  and  wasters,  the  broken, 
captains  and  drunken  pauper  scholars,  are  the  more  truly  remarkable 
phenomena  of  an  age  like  ours.” 


ORIGIN  AND  CAUSES  OF  ALCOHOLISM. 


shouldn't  we  have  a glass  of  beer  too  ? ” “ Don’t  preach 

to  me,”  says  the  young  man;  “my  father  takes  wine  at 
dinner  always,  so  did  my  professors  at  college.  I don’t 
care  to  be  better  than  they.” 

In  the  Sword  and  Trowel  (London,  April,  1884),  Mr. 
Spurgeon  says — 

“ Children  are  taught  to  drink,  encouraged  to  drink, 
and  praised  for  drinkiug  ; the  glass  is  even  made  a reward 
for  good  conduct.  It  will  be  little  wonder  if  they  grow 
up  to  equal  and  surpass  their  seniors,  when  precept  and 
example  are  pointed  by  contemptuous  jests  aimed  at 
abstainers.  We  have  heard  Christian  people  declare  that 
if  their  children  acquired  a taste  for  strong  drink  it  should 
be  in  after  life,  but  they  would  not  bear  the  responsibility 
of  training  them  in  it ; and  we  have  thought  this  to  be 
true  common  sense.  But  what  is  that  spirit  which  leads 
a professed  believer  in  Christ  to  put  the  bottle  to  his 
neighbour's  mouth,  nay,  to  his  child’s  mouth?  What  is 
that  spirit  which  has  induced  some  to  trample  upon  the 
scruples  of  the  little  one,  and  exclaim  in  anger,  ‘ I will 
have  none  of  such  nonsense.  Are  you  going  to  teach  your 
parents,  and  set  up  to  be  better  than  they  ? ’ Thousands 
of  boys  are  the  victims  of  Bacchus,  for  their  fathers  train 
them  to  take  their  share  of  beer ; this  is  mostly  among  the 
working  classes ; but  are  there  not  too  many  in  all  ranks 
of  society  who  in  other  shapes  offer  their  children  upon 
the  altar  of  the  fiery  fiend  ? Let  the  careful  parent  think 
this  matter  over  before  he  further  countenances  wine  at 
juvenile  parties,  or  at  holiday  festivals.  It  may  seem  a 
trifle,  . . . but  when  the  son  becomes  a sot,  it  will  afford 
his  father  no  pleasure  to  remember  that  he  told  him  to 
‘ stick  to  his  beer,’  or  taught  him  how  to  know  a glass 
of  fine  old  port.” 

And  thus  both  hereditary  and  acquired  desires  and 
habits  are  propped  by  the  example  of  those  whom  we  love 
and  respect.  And  this  propping  is  not  materially  weakened 
by  the  knowledge  that  bishops,  generals,*  gentlemen,  and 
the  sons  of  gentlemen  have  sometimes  degenerated  to  the 

* “ For  fifty  years  I have  been  in  Her  Majesty’s  service,  and  I do 
not  hesitate  to  say  that  some  of  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the  service 
have  gone  down  and  been  degraded  by  drink.” — Vice-Admiral  Sir 
William  King  Hall,  Speech,  London,  May,  1879. 


298 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


We  never 
see  our  own 
personal 
danger. 


Dr/Chan- 
ning  would 
have  the 
wealthy 
classes  set 
the  example 
of  abstinence. 


The  force  of 

hereditary 

habit. 


ranks  of  habitual  drunkards,  because  the  inciting  power  of 
example  (one  of  the  most  awful  of  our  personal  respon- 
sibilities to  one  another) — that  which  influences  us  in  the 
way  we  want  to  go — is  always  more  potent  than  its  restrain- 
ing force,  which  is  likely  to  require  some  sacrifice  of  us ! 

And  it  is  certain  that  young  people  are  in  this  matter 
peculiarly  victims  to  the  force  of  example,  because  in 
youth  the  imitative  faculty  is  most  susceptible,  and  they 
follow  example  blindly  from  their  childlike  confidence  in 
those  who  set  it ; not  as,  later,  to  find  protection  and 
support  in  practices  which  they  have  learned  are,  at  best, 
questionable. 

Then,  too,  in  his  own  individual  case  man  always  sees 
real  drunkenness,  degradation,  delirium  tremens — just  as 
he  sees  violent  accident  or  death — as  things  possible,  but 
dim,  far  off,  not  coming  to  him,  though  happening  all  round 
to  others  ! 

“ What  is  the  example  the  more  prosperous  classes  set 
to  the  poorer  ? ” says  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Ellery  Channing. 
“ Not  that  of  self-denial,  spirituality,  of  the  great  Christian 
truth  that  human  happiness  lies  in  the  triumph  of  the 
mind  over  the  body,  in  inward  force  and  life. 

“ The  great  inquiry  which  the  poor  man  hears  among 
those  whose  condition  makes  them  his  superiors,  is — ‘ what 
shall  we  eat  and  drink,  and  wherewithal  shall  we  be 
clothed  ? ’ Unceasing  struggles  for  outward,  earthly, 
sensual  good  constitute  the  chief  activity  he  sees  around 
him.  To  suppose  that  the  poorer  classes  should  receive 
lessons  in  luxury  and  indulgence  from  the  more  prosperous, 
and  should  yet  resist  the  temptations  to  excess,  is  to  expect 
from  them  a moral  force  in  which  we  feel  ourselves  to  be 
sadly  wanting.”  * 

§ 71.  We  know  that  by  repeating  an  act  or  thought 
until  it  has  become  spontaneous  and  as  unconscious  and 
involuntary  as  our  breathing,  we  have  formed  such  thought 
and  action  into  habit,  and  habit  is  a part  of  human 
development  in  which  more  watchfulness  is  needed  than 
in  any  other. 

Habit  is  formed  so  easily — the  force  of  example,  every- 
where, directly  and  indirectly  influencing  it — and  forms  by 


Evil  of  Intemperance  (Boston,  1837). 


ORIGIN  AND  CAUSES  OP  ALCOHOLISM. 


299 


gradations  that  glide  upon  one  another  so  imperceptibly, 
that  we  are  not  only  in  its  toils  before  we  know  it,  but 
often  without  knowing  it  at  all,  and  it  is  not  only  the 
strongest  chain  we  forge  around  our  own  activity  and 
influences,  but  among  the  most  binding  tendencies  we 
transmit  to  our  children. 

And  when  to  its  force  by  inheritance  is  added  the 
powerful  weight  of  sympathetic  association — for  our  habits 
gravitate  us  to  those  of  like  habits — it  is  little  wonder 
that  the  growing  generation  copies  the  faults  and  follies 
of  the  passing  one,  even  when  benefiting  by  some  of  its 
experience  and  research.  For,  as  we  have  seen,  the  race 
development  has,  after  all,  thus  far  been  so  predominantly 
that  of  the  senses,  that  great  as  have  been  its  strides  in 
purely  intellectual  and  speculative  fields,  the  growing,  like 
the  passing  generation,  and  even  in  an  intensified  degree, 
is  still  chiefly  bound  up  in  investigations  and  experiments 
whose  end  is  pleasurable — the  gratification  of  self  and  the 
senses — in  every  imaginable  form. 

It  seems  a question  whether  the  great  mental  advance- 
ment of  the  race  has  not  been  in  directions  and  of  a nature 
to  prevent  moral  impulse,  or  at  least  check  the  best  work 
of  reflection ; whether  we  have  not  had  moral  analysis 
satisfied  with  its  analytic  power,  rather  than  moral  purpose 
profiting  seriously  by  moral  analysis ; so  that  intellectual 
progress  and  abnormal  development  of  the  senses  have 
helplessly  followed  parallel  lines,  waiting  for  the  moral 
and  spiritual  powers  of  man  to  bend  them  together  and 
initiate  a new  habit  of  being  in  which  all  man’s  powers 
should  grow  into  their  normal  relative  proportions. 

Concerning  the  force  of  evil  habit,  the  great  Danish 
thinker  Soren  Kirkegaard  ( Kjaerlighedens  Gerninger,  or 
The  Works  of  Love,  Copenhagen,  1847)  says — 

“ Of  all  our  enemies  habit  is  pei’haps  the  slyest,  and 
above  everything  is  she  sly  enough  never  to  let  herself 
be  seen,  for  he  who  saw  her  would  be  saved  from  her. 
Against  the  visible  enemy  we  fight  in  self-defence ; but 
habit  is  like  the  soft,  yet  ferocious  vampire  that  steals  on 
the  sleeper,  and,  while  sucking  his  blood,  coolingly  moves 
its  noiseless  wings  that  his  sleep  may  be  the  deeper.  But 
the  vampire  finds  its  prey  among  the  sleeping,  it  lacks 
power  to  lull  the  wakeful,  while  habit  can  creep  sleep- 


Soren  Kirke- 
gaard on  the 
force  of  evil 
habits. 


300 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  force  of 
habit  become 
instinct. 


Difficulty  for 
the  race  as 
for  the  in- 
dividual to 
break  the 
chains  of 
habit. 


Difficulty  of 
adjusting  our 
social  rela- 
tions in 


givingly  over  those  who  are  awake,  and  do  its  vampire 
work  in  slumber  of  its  own  producing.” 

And  when  habit  has  thus  stolen  upon  us,  it  transforms 
the  whole  being  so  as  to  harmonize  it  with  the  habit  or 
habits  formed.  The  force  of  example  and  inherited 
tendencies  make  individual  habits  into  national  character- 
istics, and  thus  countries  are  ruled  by  the  habitudes  of 
preceding  epochs,  by  routine  government,  by  national  pre- 
judices, as  well  as  by  national  ignorance  and  blindness  to 
the  most  crying  vices.  Just  as  the  individual  finds  it 
difficult  to  change  any  objectionable  habit,  because  it  has 
become  so  natural  that  he  does  it  before  he  thinks,  or  even 
without  thinking,  so  must  it  also  be  difficult  for  the  nation 
and  the  race  to  change  national  customs  and  habits  im- 
bedded by  the  lapse  of  centuries ; or  even  to  take  full  note 
of  their  power  and  tendency. 

For  example,  the  crime  of  murder,  except  among  Thugs, 
Assassins,  the  Vehmgericht,  or  during  frenzied  religious 
or  political  upheavals,  is  generally  abhorred  and  con- 
demned, and  punished  by  the  death  penalty. 

But  the  institutions,  habits,  and  customs  which  are 
responsible  for  nine-tenths  of  the  murders,  are  neither 
generally  condemned  nor  abrogated ; but  are  eagerly  de- 
fended and  approved  by  most  of  those  who  wish  to  do— 
and  think  they  are  doing — their  parts  as  patriots  and 
citizens  of  a free  country,  in  opposing  interference  with 
the  time-honoured  rights  and  privileges  of  the  liquor 
trade. 

They  know  that  liquor  does  an  incredible  amount  of 
wrong  to  the  individual  and  to  the  nation.  But  habit — 
the  habit  of  inactivity  in  the  matter,  and  the  habit  of 
long  participation  in  those  social  customs  and  commercial 
interests  which  help  to  sustain  the  liquor  trade — these 
hold  them  off,  and  they  intrench  themselves  in  their  non- 
interference by  all  sorts  of  specious  reasoning. 

So  great,  indeed,  is  the  power  of  ingrained  habit,  that 
although  evil,  and  passively  recognized  as  such,  it  is  strong 
enough  to  transform  the  whole  state  and  social  organization 
into  accordance  with  it. 

The  tremendous  power  of  custom  and  habit  is  almost 
daily  felt  by  those  interested  in  temperance  reform,  in  the 
difficulty  of  deciding  what  is  the  right  and  wisest  course 


ORIGIN  AND  CAUSES  OF  ALCOHOLISM. 


301 


to  pursue  in  social  relations.  We  know  that  alcohol  is  harmony 
poison;  in  offering  it  to  a guest  we  offer  him  not  only 
what  is  certainly  non-beneficial,  but  what  is,  in  some  more  convictions, 
or  less  degree,  positively  deleterious — even  were  the  con- 
sideration solely  that  of  physical  health. 

But,  in  addition  to  this,  we  know  that  we  may  be 
starting  him  on  the  oad  to  perdition ; for  conscience, 
self-control,  moral  dignity  and  purpose  are  not  equally 
dispensed  in  the  moral  constitutions  of  men,  and  the 
exterior,  with  all  its  subtle  indications,  by  no  means  surely 
informs  of  the  weakness  or  strength  of  a given  in- 
dividuality. 

Yet  the  circumstances  we  are  placed  in  by  the  drinking 
customs  of  the  country  make  it  almost  impossible  for  us 
to  act  with  our  highest  convictions,  or  even  to  feel  sure 
whether  it  would  be  best  to  do  so  at  the  present  stage  of 
affairs.  It  is  not  well  that  temperance,  or  any  cause  bear- 
ing the  banner  of  reform,  should  be  characterized  by 
narrowness,  bigotry,  iconoclastic  prejudices,  and  vain- 
glorious self-asserticn  and  intolerance.  Yet  social  drink 
customs,  associated  as  they  are  among  the  upper  classes 
with  lavish  hospitality  and  the  most  pleasing  graces  and 
refinements  of  life,  have  often  the  effect  of  forcing  the 
appearance  of  this  invidious  contrast  upon  the  temperance 
movement ; and  the  whole  force  of  habit  weighs  as  yet  on 
the  side  of  the  drink  customs. 

These  originated  at  the  top  of  the  ladder  with  the  The  great 
royal  prerogative  and  the  Court,  from  the  days  when  great  bnayresting 
drinking  capacity  was  thought  to  be  one  measure  of  fitness  ^onehi 
for  occupancy  of  the  throne;  and  came  thence  gradually  this  respect, 
down  through  the  various  grades  of  society  into  universal 
practice. 

If  the  Court,  recognizing  its  responsibility  for  this  evil, 
would  take  the  lead  and  set  the  example  in  reform,  the 
most  formidable  of  the  hindrances  to  reform — the  drink 
customs — could  and  would  be  easily  overcome. 

Another  and  most  important  instance  of  the  strength 
of  rooted,  ingrained  habit  was  furnished  last  year  (1883) 
at  the  Canterbury  Convocations,  when  the  question  of 
using  intoxicating  wine  at  the  Lord’s  Supper  came  up  for 
verdict  before  the  ecclesiastical  tribunal.  After  due  con- 
sideration, the  prelates  of  the  Church  of  England  found 


302 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Mr.  John 
Sebright  on 
instinct. 


Mr.  Herbert 
Spencer  on 
the  same. 


it  most  “ convenient  that  the  clergy  should  conform  to 
ancient  and  unbroken  usage.”  Placed  in  the  gravest 
dilemma  they  evidently  felt  it  might  be  wiser  not  to 
countenance  an  innovation,  lest,  for  complicated  reasons, 
the  harm  ensuing  should  be  greater  than  the  good. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  suppose  that  the  majority 
among  them  do  not  believe  that  alcohol — now  known  to 
be  a poison — is  out  of  place  at  the  Lord’s  Supper,  yet,  such 
are  the  difficulties  accumulating  through  the  force  of 
habit  and  precedent  around  such  a question,  the  verdict 
given  is  by  no  means  incompatible  with  such  a conviction.* 

If  the  drink  evil  was  not  in  our  very  midst,  if,  like  the 
slave  trade  for  example,  it  was  flourishing  in  far  distant 
lands,  what  would  England  think  of  its  results,  and  her 
responsibilities  concerning  them,  then  P 

The  foreigner  who  first  sojourns  in  England,  in  London, 
Liverpool,  or  Glasgow,  shudders  at  the  scenes  in  the  streets 
of  these  cities.  After  remaining  a year  or  two,  he  becomes 
accustomed  to  them,  and  in  a measure  callous,  though 
never  ceasing  to  feel  shocked  at  the  effect  that  has  been 
produced  upon  the  children — the  well-born,  well-bred  boys 
and  girls — who  only  on  their  way  to  school  have  seen  and 
heard  enough  before  they  are  twelve  years  old  to  make 
them  familiar  with  and  indifferent  to  spectacles  of  drunken- 
ness and  sensuality  in  some  of  their  lowest  forms.  Habit 
long  pursued  and  transmitted  becomes  instinct,  and  at  last, 
in  a depraved  sense,  natural. 

Mr.  John  Sebright,  in  his  Observations  upon  Instinct 
(London,  1836),  expresses  an  opinion  that  “the  greater 
part  of  the  propensities  that  are  generally  supposed  to  be 
instinctive  are  not  implanted  in  animals  by  nature,  but  are 
the  result  of  long  experience,  acquired  and  accumulated 
through  many  generations,  so  as  in  the  course  of  time  to 
assume  the  character  of  instinct.” 

In  a letter  to  the  Athenceum  (London,  April  5,  1884), 
Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  quotes  from  his  Principles  of 
Psychology  (edition  of  1855)  : “ On  the  one  hand,  Instinct 
may  be  regarded  as  a kind  of  organized  memory ; on  the 
other  hand,  Memory  may  be  regarded  as  a kind  of  incipient 
instinct.  Memory,  then,  pertains  to  all  that  class  of 
psychical  states  which  are  in  process  of  being  organized. 

* See  chapter  xiii. 


ORIGIN  AND  CAUSES  OF  ALCOHOLISM. 


303 


It  continues  so  long  as  the  organizing  of  them  continues  ; 
and  disappears  when  the  organization  of  them  is  complete. 
In  the  advance  of  the  correspondence,  each  more  complex 
class  of  phenomena  which  the  organism  acquires  the  power 
of  recognizing,  is  responded  to  at  first  irregularly  and  un- 
certainly ; and  there  is  then  a weak  remembrance  of  the 
relations.  By  multiplication  of  experiences,  this  remem- 
brance becomes  stronger,  and  the  response  more  certain. 
By  further  multiplication  of  experiences,  the  internal 
relations  are  at  last  automatically  organized  in  corre- 
spondence with  the  external  ones ; and  so  conscious 
memory  passes  into  unconscious  or  organic  memory.” 

Mr.  Shirley  Hibberd,  in  an  article,  What  is  Instinct  ? 
( Intellectual  Observer,  London,  July,  1863),  says  that 
instinct  is  “the  work  of  the  mind  rendered  literally 
uniform  by  habit  . . . but  no  matter  how  strong  the  force 
of  habit,  if  initially  it  is  the  result  of  an  act  of  reasoning 
and  the  expression  of  a motive , and  is  followed  for  a 
purpose,  then  it  can  never  be  separated  from  mind, 
though  when  the  habit  is  fixed  it  makes  little  or  no 
demand  upon  the  mind  until  some  exigency  arises  demand- 
ing a deviation  from  habitual  rule.” 

In  his  essay  on  Instinct  ( Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  new 
ed.  vol.  xiii.),  Prof.  J.  J.  Romanes  says — 

“ By  the  effects  of  habit  in  successive  generations, 
mental  activities  which  were  originally  intelligent,  become 
as  if  they  were  stereotyped  into  permanent  instinct. 

“ Just  as  in  the  lifetime  of  the  individual,  adaptive 
actions  which  were  originally  intelligent,  may,  by  frequent 
repetitions,  become  automatic ; so  in  the  lifetime  of  the 
species,  actions  originally  intelligent  may,  by  frequent 
repetition  and  heredity,  so  write  their  effects  on  the 
nervous  system  that  the  latter  is  prepared,  even  before 
individual  experience,  to  perform  adaptive  actions  mechani- 
cally, which  in  previous  generations  were  performed 
intelligently — called  ‘lapsing  of  intelligence.’  We  find 
good  evidence  that  new  or  changed  experience,  when  con- 
tinued over  a number  of  generations,  is  bequeathed  to 
future  generations  as  a legacy  of  intuitive  knowledge.” 

These  definitions  and  analyses  of  habit  and  instinct 
point  to  two  of  the  most  solemn  and  important  facts  of 
human  evolution : that  of  the  present  impossibility  of 


Mr.  Shirley 
Hibberd  on 
the  same. 


The  force  of 
habit-formed 
instinct  be- 
coming 
nature  in  a 
depraved 
sense. 


304 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


conscientiously  accepting  the  leading  of  our  instincts, 
except  after  uncompromising  scrutiny ; and  that  of  the 
paramount  obligation  to  try  ourselves  and  our  instincts  by 
tests  of  self-renunciation,  combined  with  unflinching,  con- 
stant, and  large  consideration  for  others ; for  we  know 
ourselves  to  have  gone  so  far  on  the  wrong  way  that  we 
cannot  decide  what  is  natural  or  true  merely  by  the 
guidance  of  feelings  and  instincts  which  are  in  themselves 
so  much  the  product  of  our  wrong-going.  And  therefore, 
even  when  a man  says  of  alcohol  that  he  “knows  it  is 
good  for  him,”  that  “it  agrees  with  him,”  his  assertions, 
if  sincere — and  such  assertions  often  are — only  prove  how 
thoroughly  vitiated  his  system  and  its  demands  have 
become. 


History 
waiting  to 
say  some- 
thing new. 


The  current  saying  that  “ History  repeats  itself  is  a 
puerile  complaint  and  a querulous  pretence.  It  is  the 
favourite  epigram  of  our  effete  spirits,  ever  making  the 
same  weary  round  within  a circle  of  our  own  drawing, 
till  there  is  little  power  for  searching  or  soaring  beyond. 
While  we  persist  as  a race  in  a life  of  selfishness  and 
sensual  indulgence,  no  intellectual  advance  alone  can  set 
us  free,  or  release  History  from  her  painful  task  of  noting 
our  gyrations  from  and  to  the  same  old  points  of  departure. 

If  a child  will  not  learn  its  lesson,  the  teacher  cannot 
advance  it  to  the  next  room.  Tbe  teacher  can  only  explain 
over  and  over  again.  If  the  child  is  content  to  be  ignorant, 
or  unwilling  to  take  the  trouble  of  learning,  we  are  not 
surprised  when  he  complains — “ I’m  tired  of  hearing  that 
old  lesson  over  and  over.  I can’t  learn  it ; I won’t  learn 
it;  there’ll  be  more  just  like  it  if  I do ! I don’t  believe 
there  is  any  next  room  ! ” 

History  repeats  itself  only  so  long  as  we  make  it 
necessary  to  the  learning  of  our  lesson.  She  will  say 
something  new,  something  grander  than  all  that  has  gone 
before,  as  soon  as  we  will  let  her. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

SPECIOUS  REASONINGS  CONCERNING  THE  USE  OF  ALCOHOL. 

“ Temperance  is  the  unyielding  control  of  reason  over  lust,  and 
over  all  wrong  tendencies  of  the  mind.  Temperance  means  not  only 
frugality,  but  also  modesty  and  self-government.  It  means  abstinence 
from  all  things  not  good  and  entirely  innocent  in  their  character.”  * — 
Cicero. 

§ 72.  Just  as  alcohol,  by  its  imperceptible  action  in  filtrating 
poison  throughout  generation  after  generation  of  the  body, 
has  poisoned  the  race,  so  the  arguments  in  favour  of  its 
use,  in  filtrating  their  poison  through  the  public  mind 
from  generation  to  generation,  have  shackled  the  reason, 
judgment,  and  conscience,  which  would  have  succumbed 
to  no  open  and  sudden  onset,  however  formidable. 

As  falsehood  is  dangerous  in  the  degree  that  it  is  mixed 
with  truth,  so  specious  reasoning  regarding  drink  is  the 
more  dangerous  in  the  degree  that  its  warp  is  crossed  with 
threads  of  religious,  social,  moral,  and  political  truths. 

Specious  reasoning,  always  plausible  and  usually 
clever,  never  strains  popular  comprehension  or  interpre- 
tation, and  seldom  exacts  profound  thought.  It  wears  a 
mask  of  truth,  under  ■which  it  moves  its  features  so  in- 
geniously that  we  scarcely  suspect  the  mask.  It  appeals 
to  selfishness,  calling  it  good  nature ; it  incites  false 
honour,  calling  it  consideration  and  tact ; it  flatters  false 
liberty,  calling  it  individuality  and  self-respect.f 

* For  a voluminous  and  excellent  compendium  of  authorities  on 
the  true  meaning  of  the  word  temperance,  see  The  Morals  of  Temper- 
ance, chap,  i.,  in  Dr.  F.  R.  Lees’  Temperance  Text-Book  (vol.  i. 
London,  1884). 

t “ Invocation  : Let  us  invoke  all  the  powers  on  earth  and  under 

X 


Similarity  of 
process  in 
body-poison- 
ing and 
mind- 
poisoning. 


The  danger 
of  half 
truths. 


300 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  two  con- 
ditions in 
which  man 
will  admit 
that  evil  is 
evil. 


Hyper-sensi- 
tive indi- 
viduality a 
great  obstacle 
in  the  way 
of  personal 
reform. 


There  are  two  conditions  in  which  a man  will  admit 
evil  to  he  evil : first,  before  he  has  ever  committed  or 
expected  to  commit  it ; last,  when  he  has  steeped  himself 
in  it  so  deeply,  that  there  is  neither  shame  nor  hope  enough 
left  to  tempt  him  to  lie  about  it.  On  the  down  grade  you 
will  not  get  the  truth  from  him,  he  will  not  tell  it  even 
to  himself. 

So  the  man  who  does  not  drink,  and  the  sot,  will  alike 
tell  you  that  drinking  is  a degradation  and  a curse,  but  the 
moderate  drinker,  of  all. grades  of  moderation,  defends  the 
habit  tenaciously;  at  one  point,  or  at  another,  wherever 
you  attack,  you  find  him  there,  and  in  whatever  shape  best 
opposes  or  neutralizes  your  attack. 

The  ingenious  reasonings  and  arguments  which  have 
been  woven  around  the  habit  of  drink  by  those  who  love 
it,  and  who  wish  the  justification  of  plenty  of  company  in 
it,  are  very  difficult  to  deal  with.  They  are  so  much  a 
matter  of  personal  opinion,  of  mutual  influence,  of  the 
rooted  love  of  pleasure  curiously  mixed  with  the  desire  to 

the  earth  for  the  whole  state  of  the  British  Distillery.  And  let  ns 
implore  the  aid  and  assistance  of  those  Immortal  Shades  who  dared 
to  rival  the  Lord  of  Heaven,  and  are  invested  with  the  Power  of  the 
Air,  by  which  they  go  to  and  fro  upon  the  Earth  to  deceive  and 
seduce  Mankind  : That  there  may  never  he  wanting  arguments  to 
delude,  nor  bribes  to  corrupt.” — An  Oration  delivered  before  an  Audience 
of  Distillers,  by  Baahebub  (London,  1760). 

In  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  (April  5,  1884)  I find  the  following  : — 

“proposal  tor  a mission  to  start  a public-house. 

“ The  Bishop  of  Bedford  presided  on  Thursday  night  at  a meeting 
in  the  board-room  of  the  S.P.C.K.  office,  at  which  were  present 
the  Bight  Hon.  Sir  J.  B.  Mowbray,  M.P.,  Mr.  J.  G.  Talbot,  M.P.,  the 
Warden  of  All  Souls  and  Keble,  Canon  Scott. Hilliard,  and  other 
friends  of  the  proposed  movement  for  Oxford  men  working  in  the 
East  End  of  London ; and  it  was  proposed  to  place  an  ‘ Oxford 
House  ’ in  the  parish  of  St.  Andrew,  Bethnal  Green,  of  which  the 
Bev.  Knight  Bruce  was  in  charge.  Mr.  Albert  Pell,  M.P.,  suggested 
the  propriety  of  the  Oxonians  buying  a public-house.  He  said  that 
he  should  be  happy  to  lease  them  one.  He  was  not  joking.  A 
publican  could  get  at  as  many  people  as  a person  could  reach.  They 
could  take  this  house  and  insist  that  it  should  be  conducted  so  that  a 
man  could  take  his  wife  and  children  into  it  without  the  ears  of  the 
women  being  hurt,  and  if  there  was  a little  drunkenness,  that  was  not 
the  greatest  crime  in  the  world,  though  'people  often  spoke  as  if  it 
iv ere.” 


SPECIOUS  REASONINGS  ON  THE  USE  OF  ALCOHOL. 


307 


be  considered  conscientious,  and  with  some  real  impulses 
to  do  right ; and  the  whole  sophistical  mesh  is  so  plausible 
and  subtle  (resulting  from  long  inheritance  of  drink  habit, 
drink  custom,  and  drink  sophistry,  so  that  the  selfishness 
is  well  concealed  even  from  the  sophist  himself),  and  so 
personal,  that  the  first  outwork  the  reformer  encounters — 
or  he  who  seeks  help  to  be  self-reforming — is  that  of 
hyper-sensitive  individuality. 

Then  there  are  the  myriads  of  onlookers,  intelligent  itisnotoniy 
people,  who  are  not  quick  or  clever  reasoners,  but  who  ^ceived^but 
sincerely  search  for,  though  they  cannot  argue  about  the  lor  the 
truth ; people  who  respect  themselves  and  abhor  debauchery,  Marchers  and 
who,  meaning  neither  to  deceive  nor  be  deceived,  are 
balancing  this  important  question  of  moderate  drinking — win  in  this 
of  drinking  at  all,  with  the  intention  of  discovering  gt°°uc!,gle 
whether  moderate  indulgence  is  harmless  in  itself,  and 
whether  it  has  a tendency  to  become  immoderate.  It  is 
also  for  these  and  their  heirs  for  ever  that  victory  in  this 
good  struggle  is  to  be  won.  And  to  win,  it  is  not  only 
necessary  to  unwind  all  specious  arguments  and  leave  the 
truth  standing  bare  and  clear ; it  is  necessary  to  do  it  in 
such  a way  that  the  masses  will  see  that  it  is  done,  will  be 
convinced. 

If  every  beer-shop  and  public-house  were  closed,  every 
brewery  and  distillery  destroyed,  every  bottle  broken,  and 
every  drop  of  alcoholic  drink  spilled  out  of  England  into 
the  ocean  to-day,  and  no  more  of  the  same  were  admitted 
within  its  borders  for  a year  and  a day,  England  might  see 
something  of  what  abstinence  could  do,  but  she  would  not 
experience  the  effects  of  abstinence  voluntarily  imposed 
upon  himself  by  man , under  the  sincere  conviction  that  in- 
toxicating drinks  are  evil.  It  is  this  that  is  wanted  every- 
where, in  every  heart  and  life.  Whether  a little  drink  bd 
hurtful  or  harmless,  is  not  now,  if  it  ever  was,  the  question. 

What  is  wanted  is  the  general  diffusion  of  the  knowledge  The  great 
that  alcohol  is  a poison  to  body  and  mind  ; that,  though  general  and  • 
the  drinker  may  in  his  oivn  person  to  all  appearances  positive 
escape  baneful  consequences,  his  children  and  children  s onul^sub- 
children  must  often  bear  them.  What  is  wanted  is  the  ject;  arul 
conviction  that  no  man  can  guiltlessly  indulge  in  that  recognition 
which,  not  being  a necessity  for  himself,  is,  by  his  in-  of  personal 
dulging,  a snare  to  his  brother.  That  drink  is  such  a biiity. 


308 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  fallacy 
of  the  boast 
that  the 
virility  of 
the  English 
nation 
proves  the 
comparative 
harmlessness 
of  drink. 


Brief 

epitome  of 
England’s 
drink 
history. 


Bergenroth 
on  the  atti- 
tude of  the 
Court  con- 
cerning 
water-drink- 
ing in  1498. 


snare,  is  abundantly  proved  by  tbe  fact  that,  wherever 
the  custom  of  moderate  drinking  has  been  sanctioned  by 
the  community,  there  has  always  been  a large  number  in 
that  community  to  sink  from  moderation  to  excess. 

§ 73.  In  dealing  with  specious  reasoning,  we  must 
remember  that  even  fools  can  make  assertions  which, 
however  groundless,  a wise  man  will  find  it  difficnlt  to 
successfully  gainsay,  and  thorough  indeed  must  be  the 
refutation  of  assertions  made  in  the  interests  of  self- 
indulgence. 

It  is  common  in  England  (probably  at  present  the 
hardest  drinking  country  in  the  world)  to  hear  the 
defenders  of  drink  boast  that  the  virility  and  might  of 
the  English  nation  proves  the  outciy  against  alcohol  to  be 
greatly  exaggerated,  if  not  unfounded. 

Many  peculiar  local  and  historic  circumstances  (such, 
for  instance,  as  the  insular  position  which  has  often  com- 
paratively sheltered  England  from  the  commotions  and 
anxieties  of  the  continental  Powers),  combined  with  prudent 
and  vigorous  statesmanship,  have  mightily  contributed  to 
the  foundation  and  maintenance  of  England’s  present 
power,  but  we  may  be  certain  that  the  comparative  sobriety 
of  the  English  race  has  done  more.  For  however  strong 
the  hold  of  this  vice  in  the  present,  it  is  a fact  that  the 
English  as  a nation  have  not  been  hai’d  drinkers  more 
than  about  two  hundred  years,  which  can  be  said  of  no 
continental  nation. 

Beers  and  the  use  of  hops  became  known  in  England 
during  the  sixteenth  century ; before  that  time,  the 
favourite  drink  of  the  people  was  ale  and  mead,  the 
substitute  for  hops  being  wormwood ; and  at  about  the  same 
time  tea  and  coffee  were  beginning  to  come  into  general 
use,  and  acted  modifyingly. 

It  appears  from  State  documents  that  as  early  as  the 
fifteenth  century,  water,  so  far  as  the  Court  was  concerned, 
was  regarded  as  unfit  to  drink. 

Says  Bergenroth,  in  his  Calendar  of  State  Papers  (Ho. 
1156) — 

“ The  Spanish  ambassador  at  the  court  of  Henry  TII., 
De  Puebla  Talavera,  writes  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
(July  17th,  1498)  that  the  English  queen,  and  Lady 


SPECIOUS  REASONINGS  ON  THE  USE  OF  ALCOHOL. 


309 


Margaret,  the  king’s  mother,  wish,  that  the  young  Princess 
Catherine  of  Arragon  being  affianced  to  the  Prince  of 
Wales  (though  still  living  in  Spain)  should  accustom  her- 
self to  drink  wine,  since  the  water  in  England  is  not 
drinkable,  and  even  if  it  were  the  climate  would  not  allow 
the  drinking  of  it.” 

It  was  through  the  marriage  between  the  English  and 
French  royal  houses  that  wine-drinking  was  first  gradually 
spread  among  the  masses  in  England,  by  means  of  the 
consequent  favourable  tariff  to  the  importation  of  wine. 

Before  that  time  the  masses  did  not  generally  drink  ale, 
and  what  they  did  drink  was  ordinarily  of  a very  light 
character,  and  excessive  drinking  was  rare.  Says  Camden  citation 
(Annals,  1581)-  Aden’s 

“The  English,  who  hitherto  had  of  all  the  Northern  Annals, i58i. 
nations  shown  themselves  the  least  addicted  to  immoderate 
drinking,  and  been  commended  for  their  sobriety,  first 
learned  in  these  wars  in  the  Netherlands  to  swallow  large 
quantities  of  intoxicating  liquors,  and  destroy  their  own 
health  by  drinking  that  of  others.” 

In  his  curious  work,  The  Government  of  Health  (London,  in  1595  Dr. 
1595),  Dr.  William  Bullein  says,  “ They  that  drinke  wyne 
customably  with  measure,  it  doth  profit  them  much  and  speaking  of 
maketh  good  digestion ; those  people  that  use  to  drink  evufmakes 
wyne  seldom  times,  be  distempered  . . . ale  and  beere  no  mention 
have  no  such  virtue  and  goodness  as  wyne  hath.”  He  iiqUor. 
does  not  mention  distilled  liquors. 

Mr.  Sherlock,  in  his  Shakespeare  on  Intemperance  Citationfrom 
(London,  1882),  quotes  from  a section  entitled  The  Plague  the  com  - 
of  our  English  Gentry,  of  the  Compleat  Gentleman  by  Henry  ^an  (1622)' 
Peacham  (1622),  the  following: — 

“ Within  these  fiftie  or  threescore  yeares  it  was  a rare 
thing  with  us  to  see  a drunken  man,  our  nation  carrying 
the  name  of  the  most  sober  and  temperate  of  any  other  in 
the  world.  But  since  we  had  to  doe  in  the  quarrell  of  the 
Netherlands,  the  custom  of  drinking  and  pledging  kealtlies 
was  brought  over  into  England ; wherein  let  the  Dutch  be 
their  owne  judges,  if  we  equall  them  not ; yea,  I think 
rather  excell  them.” 

In  his  well-known  work,  Way  to  Health,  Long  Life,  pom  _ 
and  Happiness  (1683),  Tryon  says  that  formerly  canary  tfseaitK^ 
(wine)  was  sold  almost  exclusively  by  apothecaries.  Lon9  Life> 


310 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


and  Happi- 
7iess  (1683). 


Hard  drink- 
ing not  com- 
mon in 
England 
until  the 
17  th  century. 
Citation  from 
Dr.  Foe’s 
Poor  Man's 
Plea. 


From  Sir 
John  Har- 
rington’s 
Nugaz 
Antigua z. 


From  Bishop 
Benson  in 
Lecky’s 
History  of 
England 
(1878). 


“ Where  there  was  one  quart  of  wine  drunk  forty  or  fifty 
years  ago  (wbicli  would  be  about  1635)  there  is  now  ten 
thousand  . . . the  use  of  tobacco  and  brandy  a hundred 
years  since  was  hardly  known.  Nay,  the  use  of  our  ale 
and  beer  has  hardly  been  above  two  hundred  years.” 
Which  shows  that  hard  drinking  did  not  become  common 
until  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

Concerning  the  condition  brought  about  by  the  Act 
for  Encouragement  of  Distillation,  De  Foe,  in  his  Poor 
Mans  Plea,  says— 

“ Drunkenness  had  become  a science,  and  but  that 
instruction  in  it  proved  so  easy,  and  the  youth  too  apt  to 
learn,  possibly  we  might  have  had  a college  erected  for  it 
before  now.”  And  of  the  evil  example  set  by  the  nobility, 
he  says,  “ Whoever  gives  himself  the  trouble  to  reflect 
on  the  custom  of  our  gentlemen  in  their  families  en- 
couraging and  promoting  this  vice  of  drunkenness  among 
the  poor,  will  not  think  it  a scandal  upon  the  gentry  of 
England  if  we  say  that  the  mode  of  drinking  that  is  now 
practised  had  its  origin  in  the  practice  of  the  country 
gentlemen,  and  they  again  from  the  courts.” 

Then  came  free  trade  in  liquors  during  Queen  Anne’s 
reign.  Sir  John  Harrington,  in  his  Nugce  Antiques, 
describing  the  Danish  king  Christian’s  visit  to  Queen 
Anne  of  England,  says — 

“ The  ladies  have  abandoned  their  sobriety,  and  ai’e 
seen  to  roll  about  in  intoxication.  ...  I see  no  man  nor 
woman  either  that  can  now  command  himself  or  herself.” 

The  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  saw  little  improve- 
ment on  this  state  of  affairs.  In  Lecky’s  History  of  Eng- 
land (1878)  there  is  a graphic  quotation  from  Bishop 
Benson,  picturing  the  condition  of  England  at  that  time. 

“ Not  only,”  says  the  bishop,  “ is  there  no  safety  of 
living  in  this  town  (London),  but  scarcely  any  in  the 
country  now.  Robbery  and  murder  are  grown  so  frequent. 
Our  people  are  become  what  they  never  before  were — cruel 
and  inhuman.  Those  cursed  spirituous  liquors,  which  to  the 
shame  of  our  Government  are  so  easily  to  be  had,  and  are 
in  such  quantities  drunk,  have  changed  the  very  nature  of 
our  people.” 

Among  the  nobility  and  clergy,  drinking  has  been 
more  or  less  prevalent  for  about  five  hundred  years,  but 


SPECIOUS  REASONINGS  ON  THE  USE  OF  ALCOHOL. 


311 


the  English  masses  have  been  hard  drinkers  for  only  a 
little  over  two  hundred  years,  or  about  one  hundred  years 
less  than  any  other  nation,  America  excepted.  Therefore 
the  assertion  that  the  strength  of  the  English  race  is 
evidence  that  drink  is  not  injurious,  is  seen  to  be  fallacious. 


Rev.  Dr.  Dawson  Burns,  in  his  Christendom  and  the 
Drink  Curse  (London,  1875),  eloquently  exposes  specious 
arguments  of  the  character  of  evasion  in  these  words : 
“ Nothing  can  be  more  superficial,  not  to  say  sophistical, 
than  the  manner  in  which  some  literary  men,  who  have 
no  practical  knowledge  of  the  subject,  endeavour  to  meet 
the  force  of  this  argument,  whether  used  for  abstinence  or 
prohibition,  by  referring  to  countries  comparatively  sober 
(such  as  Spain  and  some  parts  of  the  East)  where  crimes 
of  great  enormity  are  very  common.  Whatever  may  be  the 
causes  of  such  crimes  there,  they  cannot  prove  that  strong 
drink  is  not  at  the  bottom  of  two-thirds  or  three-fourths 
of  the  crimes  committed  in  the  United  Kingdom  ; and  to 
assume,  as  is  done,  that  if  the  British  causes  were  removed, 
the  foreign  ones  would  take  their  place,  is  an  outrage  on 
common  sense  and  knowledge  of  the  world.  Assuming 
the  facts  to  be  as  stated,  they  do  but  show  what  no  one 
ever  doubted — that  the  causes  of  crime  differ  in  different 
countries ; the  reasonable  inference  being,  that  every 
country  should  seek  to  remove  those  causes  of  crime  that 
are  special  to  itself.  Brigandage  is  rampant  in  some 
countries,  and  has  its  peculiar  causes  ; but  what  would  be 
said  by  English  writers  if  suitable  means  for  the  removal 
of  those  causes  were  opposed  on  the  ground  that  drinking 
is  the  principal  cause  of  crime  in  Great  Britain  ? Equally 
ridiculous  is  the  plea  that  because  some  sober  countries 
are  subject  to  crime  from  peculiar  causes,  therefore  British 
crime  is  not  owing  to  strong  drink,  or  that  the  sum  of  it 
would  remain  as  before,  if  drinking  were  abolished,  all 
evidence  and  internal  probability  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing. It  may  at  the  same  time  be  doubted  whether 
the  countries  credited  with  this  remarkable  sobriety  deserve 
the  praise,  or  at  least  whether  the  crimes  committed  there 
are  not  largely  due  to  the  use  of  intoxicants  by  the 
criminal  part  of  the  population.  It  was  so  during  the 


The  Rev.  Dr. 
Dawson 
Burns  on  the 
specious 
arguments 
used  to  prove 
that  the  com- 
mission of 
crime  in  so- 
called  sober 
countries 
justifies  the 
assumption 
that  drink  is 
not  at  the 
bottom  of 
most  of  the 
crime  com- 
mitted in 
Great 
Britain. 


312 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Habitual 

drunkenness 

universally 

condemned. 

Moderate 
drinking  the 
nucleus  of 
dispute. 


No  fixed 
standard  of 
moderation 
possible. 


Dr.  John 
Cheyne. 


Fourteen 
glasses  of 
wine  per  day 
the  modera- 
tion limit  of 
a German 
temperance 
society  in 
the  sixteenth 
century. 

In  our  day, 


Indian  Mutiny,  when  the  sepoys,  guilty  of  the  worst 
atrocities,  were  made  mad  with  bhang  and  arrack.  It 
was  so  during  the  Communist  rule  in  Paris,  and  the  later 
outrages  of  the  Spanish  revolutionists.  And  in  Eastern 
countries  crime  will  be  chiefly  found  to  prevail  among  the 
classes  that  do  not  comply  with  the  rules  of  sobriety,  while 
those  classes  of  the  population  free  from  drinking  are 
strikingly  free  from  other  offences.  So  it  is  in  Turkey, 
and  so  in  India.  It  ought  not  to  require  much  reasoning 
capacity  to  perceive  that  the  absence  of  intoxicating 
liquors  must  be  favourable  to  the  decrease  of  crime,  and 
that  whatever  may  be  the  amount  of  crime  where  they  are 
unknown,  their  use  would  lead  to  an  aggravation  and  an 
inci’ease.” 


§ 74.  All  sensible  people  think  alike  on  one  feature  of 
the  drink  question  : they  agree  in  condemning  habitual 
drunkenness  and  sottishness  as  repulsive  and  contemptible. 

But  on  the  question  of  so-called  “ moderate  ” drinking 
there  is  almost  as  much  divergence  of  opinion  as  there  is 
latitude  of  interpretation. 

The  first  thing  would  be  to  ascertain  the  standard  of 
moderation ; but  no  standard  has  yet  been  fixed,  no 
definition  of  the  term  been  settled  upon.  Nor,  indeed, 
would  it  be  possible  to  do  so  from  the  physiological  stand- 
point ; for  while  a single  glass  may  produce  drunkenness 
in  one  man,  another  man  might  drink  ten  glasses  and 
show  no  signs  of  intoxication. 

“ They  who  have  heard  how  large  a quantity  of  fer- 
mented liquor  may  sometimes  be  taken  without  injury,” 
says  Dr.  John  Cheyne,  in  A Letter  on  the  Effects  of  Wine 
and  Spirits  (Dublin,  1829),  “ought  also  to  know  how 
small  a quantity  may  prove  injurious,  otherwise  the 
question  at  issue  has  not  been  fairly  submitted  to  their 
judgment.” 

In  Germany,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  a temperance 
society  based  its  laws  on  the  restriction  of  its  members  to 
“ fourteen  glasses  of  wine  daily.”  In  our  day  observation 
shows  that  “moderation”  means  just  as  little  as  a man 
chooses  to  drink,  and  also  just  as  much  as  he  chooses  to 
drink  short  of  the  point  of  evident  intoxication,  nor  is  the 
line  drawn  even  here  by  all,  nor  is  there  any  one  vested 


SPECIOUS  REASONINGS  ON  THE  USE  OF  ALCOHOL. 


313 


with  authority  to  say  that  the  line  shall  be  drawn  any-  moderation 

where  entirely 

wnoie.  optional. 

On  being  asked  to  define  the  term,  one  man  says,  gome  of  the 

“Moderation  is  to  drink  no  more  than  you  know  is  good  most  usual 
r.  -|  • j 1 i i Si  i definitions  of 

tor  you,  and  never  under  any  circumstances  to  exceed  that  the  term. 

amount.”  Further  questioning  elicits  the  fact  that  the 
quantity  varies ; for  example,  his  habit  is  to  drink  two  or 
three  glasses  of  wine  or  beer  at  dinner  daily,  and  a glass  of 
brandy  now  and  then  before  going  to  bed  ; in  company, 
he  is,  of  course,  not  so  strict ; it  would  be  disloyal,  bigoted, 
unsocial,  not  to  drink  the  health  of  the  Queen,  the  Royal 
Family,  and  other  toasts ; but  he  understands  himself 
perfectly,  and  knows  what  he  can  bear ; he  confesses  to 
having  sometimes  been  a little  “jolly,”  but  nothing  worse, 
and  he  has  only  contempt  for  those  who  cannot  thus  con- 
trol themselves. 

This  is  a fair  specimen  of  the  moderate  drinker’s 
definition  of  the  term.  Another  moderate  drinker  cannot 
tell  you  the  quantity  he  takes.  “ I take  a glass  whenever 
I feel  like  it,”  he  says,  “ but  I always  stop  at  the  right 
point,  and  I don’t  frequent  the  public-house.”  Another 
claims  moderation  on  the  ground  that  he  is  never  exactly 
“ dead  drunk,”  or  that  he  is  “ only  drunk  now  and  then.” 

“We  are  assured,”  says  the  Lancet , in  an  article,  Are  The  Lancet 
Publicans  the  Enemies  of  Drunlcenness  ? (May,  1872)  “ that  andTpedous 
they  (the  publicans)  regard  this  vice  with  a horror  in  no  ^s(°tning 
way  second  to  the  horror  of  teetotalers  . . . from  whom,  moderation, 
indeed,  they  only  differ  in  the  opinion  they  have  formed 
with  regard  to  the  best  means  of  repressing  the  evil. 
Teetotalers  would  diminish  drunkenness  by  enjoining 
abstinence  from  alcohol,  . . . publicans,  by  enjoining 
moderation.”  As  to  the  meaning  of  moderation,  the 
Lancet  says,  “ It  is  simply  a matter  of  definition.  A 
learned  judge  once  said  that  a man  was  not  drunk  so  long 
as  he  could  lie  on  the  ground  without  holding  on  ; to  reel 
and  stagger  a little,  to  use  foul  language  to  decent  people, 

...  to  squander  the  earnings  that  should  support  a 
family,  and  gently  punch  the  head  of  the  partner  of  one’s 
joys  and  cares  ; . . . to  do  all  this  when  under  the  influence 
of  drugged  beer  is  not  to  be  drunk,  but  only  ‘ a little 
fresh.’  ” 

§ 75.  Physicians,  who  should  certainly  be  the  highest 


314 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  practical 
worthless- 
ness of  the 
plea  of 
moderation. 


authorities,  very  rarely  attempt  to  define  a fixed  standard 
for  moderation.* 

But  even  if  a moderation  standard  were  theoretically 
found,  its  unattainability  in  practice  at  once  becomes  ap- 
parent. 

In  chapter  iv.  some  general  facts  were  given  regarding 
the  science  of  liquor  adulteration  and  its  prevalence,  show- 
ing that,  except  in  rare  instances,  all  alcoholic  liquors 
are,  as  a rale,  adulterated.  This  fact  alone  makes  the 
observance  of  any  standard  of  moderation  impossible  to 
the  majority.  But  even  if  alcoholic  drinks  were  not  often 
adulterated,  the  moderation  standard  would  still  to  the 
vast  majority  of  people  remain  utterly  unattainable.  It 
was  shown  in  chapter  v.  that  the  relative  harm  done  by 
alcohol  directly  depends  on  a variety  of  more  or  less 
difficult,  personal,  and  other  circumstances  and  conditions  ; 
such  as  constitution,  temperament,  climate,  antecedents, 


* They  sometimes  attempt  it,  however.  The  late  Dr.  Anstie,  for 
example,  gave  his  standard  of  moderation  in  an  issue  of  the  Prac- 
titioner (early  in  1871),  on  which  the  Temperance  Record  commented 
as  follows : — 

“ This  is  the  nearest  approach  that  we  have  ever  met  to  a defini- 
tion of  the  moderate  use  of  alcohol,  namely,  not  more  than  two  ounces 
of  alcohol  in  twenty-four  hours  for  an  adult  man,  and  not  more  than 
three-fourths  of  an  ounce  for  a woman.  It  would  be  a sad  interrup- 
tion to  the  enjoyment  of  a convivial  party  if  Dr.  Anstie’s  standard  of 
moderation  were  set  up  for  its  guidance.  There  would  be,  in  the  first 
place,  the  necessity  of  learning  the  amount  of  alcohol  contained  in 
the  wine  or  other  inebriating  liquor  placed  before  the  guests ; and  the 
size  of  the  glasses  would  have  to  be  made  known,  so  that  each  person 
might  understand  how  many  glasses  he  or  she  might  take  without 
going  beyond  the  bounds  of  moderation.  And  then,  in  the  second 
place,  there  would  be  great  difficulty  in  keeping  to  the  right  number 
of  glasses.  For  alcohol,  when  taken  into  the  stomach,  so  affects  the 
nerves  and  brain  as  to  make  persons  feel  anxious  for  more  of  it. 
This  constitutes  its  most  dangerous  property.  It  exhilarates,  and  it 
creates  an  alcoholic  appetite  which  grows  stronger  by  indulgence.  It 
would  be  extremely  difficult  to  keep  to  the  standard.  In  fact,  to 
propose  to  restrict  or  point  out  the  quantity  of  alcoholic  liquor  which 
may  be  safely  used,  would  be  to  acknowledge  that  the  drink  is,  as 
the  teetotalers  assert,  highly  dangerous.  It  would  be  to  make  a dis- 
tinction between  alcoholic  liquors  and  all  the  other  articles  of  food 
or  drink  that  we  use.  The  admirers  of  the  liquors  would  naturally 
revolt  at  the  idea  of  fixing  a very  narrow  limit  to  the  consumption  of 
what  they  profess  to  consider  the  good  creatures  of  God.  We  dispute 
the  utility  of  attempts  to  set  bounds  to  the  consumption  of  brain- 


SPECIOUS  REASONINGS  ON  THE  USE  OF  ALCOHOL. 


315 


occupation,  condition  of  the  stomach,  etc.,  etc.  It  may  be 
said  that  a skilful  physician  would  be  able  to  make 
allowance  for  all  these  things.  But  this  very  fact  proves 
that  a general  standard  is  out  of  the  question.  And, 
again,  supposing  these  objections  were  the  only  ones, 
and  that  the  medical  profession  had  really  reached  this 
necessary  proficiency,  even  then  it  would  be  only  the  rich 
who  could  practise  moderation  ! 

But  even  were  a general  standard  for  the  individual 
approximately  reached,  there  are  considerations  which 
would  still  make  its  observance  practically  impossible. 

In  chapter  v.  it  was  seen  how  the  harm  produced  by 
alcohol  depends  on  (besides  the  conditions  just  enu- 
merated) the  nature  of  the  alcohols  imbibed,  and  their 
relative  saturation  with  water. 

Supposing,  therefore,  that  the  moderation  quantum  of 
alcohol  could  be  fairly  ascertained,  it  would  still  be  im- 
possible to  put  the  standard  in  practice,  until  every  bottle 
of  wine,  whisky,  brandy,  gin,  beer,  ale,  etc.,  should  be 
scientifically  tested,  and  the  required  saturation  and 
character  of  the  alcohol  be  thus  ascertained  or  prepared. 

• Thus  it  is  seen  that  the  term  moderation,  when  applied 
to  intoxicating  liquors,  has  no  value,  because  it  has  no 
reliable  signification ; and  that  its  chief  use  is  to  cover 
with  the  mantle  of  respectability  as  much  as  possible  the 
varying  grades  of  a habit  bad  from  first  to  last,  in  what- 
ever degree  it  is  indulged  in.  It  is  but  fair  in  this 
connection  to  mention  the  fact  that  very  many  persons 
ranking  among  moderate  drinkers  both  have  and  con- 
scientiously observe  a fixed  standard,  and  not  only  do  not 
exceed  its  limits,  but  sincerely  believe  that  within  those 
limits  the  indulgence  is  harmless. 

But  why,  after  all,  should  there  be  this  search  for  a 
safe  moderation  dose  ? If  alcohol,  while  being  the  dan- 
gerous article  we  know  that  it  is,  had  yet  been  found  to 

poisoning  drinks.  Moderation  may  be  theoretically  right,  but  it  is 
ever  proving  practically  wrong.  All  the  victims  of  intemperance 
began  their  use  of  strong  drink  in  moderate  quantities,  and  the  drink 
has  made  them  what  they  are.  The  drink  is  truly  a mocker  ; men 
flatter  themselves  that  they  know  how  to  guide  themselves — they 
can  distinguish  the  use  from  the  abuse  ; but  they  learn  by  painful 
experience  that  the  drink  is  strong,  while  men  are  weak.” 


316 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr.  Grindrod 
( Bacchus , 
1839)  on 
moderate 
drinking  as 
the  pre- 
paratory 
stage  of 
drunken- 
ness. 


Dr.  J.  Baxter 
on  moderate 
drinking. 


Dr.  Copland 
on  the  same. 


be  under  certain  conditions  and  in  certain  quantities 
essential  to  life  and  health  ; then,  indeed,  would  it  become 
not  only  proper  but  an  imperative  necessity  for  us  to  find 
out  the  right  way  to  use  it.  But  it  is  proved  and  admitted 
by  every  one  qualified  to  speak  about  it,  and  who  values 
the  truth,  that  alcohol  is  not  necessary  to  either  life  or 
health ; that,  on  the  contrary,  neither  are  served  by  its 
use,  in  any  quantity.  Why,  then,  search  for  a standard 
of  moderation  for  the  use  of  a thing,  at  best  quite  valueless, 
and  whose  most  probable  effect  is  the  formation  of  an 
appetite  in  every  way  dangerous  to  the  health  of  body 
and  mind  ? 

And  what  is  the  testimony  of  competent  authorities  as 
to  the  results  of  moderate  drinking  ? 

In  Bacchus  (London,  1839),  Dr.  Grindrod  tells  us  that 
“ the  habit  of  intoxication  is  a confirmed  taste  or  appetite 
for  strong  drink,  acquired  in  the  first  instance  by  moderate 
indulgence.  The  state  of  intoxication  is  that  high  degree 
of  excitement  of  which  moderate  drinking  is  the  preparatory 
stage. 

“ One  of  the  first  stages  of  intemperance  is  witnessed  in 
the  anxious  and  uneasy  feelings  which  even  moderate  drinkers 
invariably  experience  on  occasions  when  they  have  been 
accidentally  deprived  of  their  accustomed  allowance.  Sen- 
sations of  this  nature  present  undoubted  evidence  of  the 
existence  and  development  of  the  inebriate  propensity. 
Indeed,  the  great  danger  of  moderate  drinking  consists  in 
the  inability  to  ascertain  at  what  precise  period  in  the 
progress  of  the  vice  this  unnatural  sensation  first  com- 
mences.” 

In  Testimonies  of  Physicians  (Hew  York,  1830),  Dr.  J. 
Baxter  says,  “ The  habit  of  moderate  drinking  has  been  the 
principal  cause  of  the  widespread  scourge  of  intemperance. 
The  laws  of  gravitation  in  impelling  ponderous  bodies 
toward  the  centre  are  scarcely  more  certain  than  the 
modet’ate  use  of  liquor  in  begetting  the  drunken  appetite.” 

As  to  the  physiological  results  of  moderate  drinking,  I 
find  the  following  medical  opinions  quoted  by  Dr.  Grindrod 
(op.  cit .)  : — 

“ In  his  Piet,  of  Pract.  it led.  (1835),  Dr.  Copland 
says,  ‘ There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  as  expressed  by  the  late 
Dr.  Gregory,  an  occasional  excess  is  upon  the  whole  less 


SPECIOUS  REASONINGS  ON  THE  USE  OF  ALCOHOL. 


317 


injurious  to  the  constitution  than  the  practice  of  daily 
taking  a moderate  quantity  of  any  fermented  liquor  or  spirit.' 

“In  his  Lecture  on  Health  (2nd  edition,  1800),  Dr.  Dr.  Garnett. 
Garnett  said,  ‘ Those  who  drink  only  a moderate  quantity 
of  wine,  so  as  to  make  them  cheerful,  as  they  call  it,  but 
not  absolutely  to  intoxicate,  may  imagine  that  it  will  do 
them  no  harm.  The  strong  and  robust  may  enjoy  the 
pleasures  of  the  bottle  and  the  table  with  seeming  im- 
punity, and  sometimes  for  many  years  may  not  find  any 
bad  effects  from  them  ; but,  depend  upon  it,  if  a full  diet 
of  animal  food  be  every  day  indulged  in,  with  only  a 
moderate  portion  of  wine,  its  baneful  influence  will  blast 
the  vigour  of  the  strongest  constitution.’ 

“ Dr.  James  Johnson  avers  that — ‘A  very  considerable  Dr.  James 
proportion  of  the  middle  and  higher  classes  of  life,  as  well  Jobnson- 
as  the  lower,  commit  serious  depredations  on  their  con- 
stitutions, when  they  believe  themselves  to  be  sober 
citizens,  and  do  really  abhor  debauch.  This  is  by  drinking 
ale  and  other  malt  liquors  to  a degree  far  short  of  intoxica- 
tion, yet  from  long  habit  producing  a train  of  effects  that 
embitter  the  later  periods  of  existence.' 

“Said  Dr.  Macrorie,  ‘After  having  treated  more  than  Dr.Macrorie. 
three  thousand  cases  in  the  town  hospital,  Liverpool,  I 
give  it  as  my  decided  opinion  that  the  constant  moderate  use 
of  stimulating  drinks  is  more  injurious  than  the  now  and 
then  excessive  indulgence  in  them.’ 

“ Dr.  Gordon,  of  Edinburgh,  corroborated  Dr.  Macrorie,  Dr.  Gordon, 
saying  that  in  numerous  post-mortem  examinations  made 
on  ‘ the  bodies  of  persons  who  had  died  of  various  diseases 
in  a population  much  more  renowned  for  sobriety  and 
temperance  than  that  of  London,  there  was  the  remai’kable 
fact  that  in  all  these  cases  there  was,  more  or  less,  some 
affection  of  the  liver ; and  these  people  had  not  been  in 
any  shape  or  form  intemperate,  and  they  were  moral  and 
religious  people,  who  would  have  been  shocked  at  the 
imputation  ; but  they  had  been  in  the  habit  of  drinking  a 
small  quantity  of  spirits  every  day.'  " 

Dr.  Sewall  says,  “ I am  persuaded  that  tens  of  thousands  Dr.  Sewaii. 
of  temperate  drinkers  die  annually  from  diseases  through 
which  the  abstemious  would  pass  in  safety.” 

In  a letter  dated  March  15,  1873,  Sir  Henry  Thompson  sir  Henry 
wrote  to  the  late  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  (Dr.  Archibald  TbomPson. 


318 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Sir  William 
Gull. 


Dr.  B.  W. 
Carpenter. 


Campbell  Tait),  “I  have  no  hesitation  in  attributing  a 
very  large  proportion  of  some  of  the  most  painful  and 
dangerous  maladies  which  come  under  my  notice,  as  well 
as  those  which  every  medical  man  has  to  treat,  to  the 
ordinary  and  daily  use  of  fermented  drink,  taken  in  the 
quantity  which  is  conversationally  deemed  moderate.” 
And  Sir  William  Gull  stated  to  the  Lords’  Select  Com- 
mittee of  Inquiry  into  the  Prevalence  of  Intemperance 
(1877),  that  “ all  alcohol,  and  all  things  of  an  alcoholic 
nature,  injure  the  nerve-tissues  pro  tempore,  if  not  alto- 
gether, and  are  certainly  deleterious  to  the  health.  I 
think  there  is  a great  deal  of  injury  being  done  by  the  use 
of  alcohol  in  what  is  supposed  by  the  consumer  to  be  a 
most  moderate  quantity,  to  people  wTho  are  not  in  the  least 
intemperate,  to  people  supposed  to  be  fairly  well.  It  leads 
to  degeneration  of  tissues.  It  spoils  the  health  and  it 
spoils  the  intellect.  Short  of  drunkenness  (that  is,  in 
those  effects  of  it  which  stop  short  of  drunkenness),  I 
should  say,  from  my  experience,  that  alcohol  is  the  most 
destructive  agent  we  are  aware  of  in  this  country.” 

Although  it  is  not  easy,  and  perhaps  not  possible,  to 
demonstrate  the  nature  and  exact  amount  of  harm  resulting 
to  any  particular  individual  from  the  occasional  or  even  the 
regular  use  of  alcohol  in  very  minute  quantities,  scientific 
observation  tends — as  we  have  seen — to  prove  that  it 
always  is,  and  acts  as,  a poison,  whether  in  sickness  or 
health. 

Dr.  B.  W.  Carpenter,  in  his  Temperance  and  Abstinence 
(London,  1881),  gives  a very  valuable  analysis  of  both  the 
difficulty  of  tracing  the  direct  results  of  extreme  modera- 
tion and  of  penetrating  the  web  of  specious  reasoning 
which  is  woven  around  it.  He  says,  “ ‘ The  little  I take 
does  me  no  harm,’  is  the  common  defence  of  those  who 
are  indisposed  to  abandon  an  agreeable  habit,  and  who 
cannot  plead  a positive  benefit  derived  from  it ; but  before 
such  a statement  can  be  justified,  the  individual  who 
makes  it  ought  to  be  endowed  with  the  gift  of  prophecy, 
and  to  be  able  to  have  present  to  his  mind  the  whole 
future  histoiy  of  his  bodily  fabric,  and  to  show  that,  by 
reducing  the  amount  of  his  excess  to  a measure  which 
produces  no  immediately  injurious  results,  he  has  not 
merely  postponed  its  evil  consequences  to  a remote  period, 


SPECIOUS  REASONINGS  ON  THE  USE  OF  ALCOHOL. 


319 


but  has  kept  himself  free  from  them  altogether.  The  onus 
probandi  lies  with  those  who  assume  the  absence  of  a con- 
nection, which  is  indicated  by  every  fact  with  which  we 
are  acquainted.  ...  If  the  medical  man  has  no  hesitation 
in  regarding  those  severer  derangements  of  the  digestive 
and  excretory  organs,  which  are  so  common  amongst  those 
who  commit  habitual  excesses  in  eating  and  drinking,  as 
the  consequence  of  those  excesses,  why  should  he  refrain 
from  attributing  the  milder  but  more  protracted  disorders 
of  the  same  organs  to  the  less  violent  but  more  enduring 
operation  of  the  same  cause  ? 

“ Let  it  be  remembered  that  we  have  multitudes  of 
cases,  in  which  the  long-continued  agency  of  morbific 
causes,  of  comparatively  low  intensity,  has  been  proved  to 
be  not  less  potent  in  the  end  than  the  administration  of 
a poison  in  a dose  large  enough  to  produce  its  obviously 
and  immediately  injurious  effects.  Thus,  a man  who 
would  be  rapidly  suffocated  by  immei’sion  in  an  atmo- 
sphere of  carbonic  acid,  may  live  for  weeks,  months,  or 
years  in  an  atmosphere  slightly  contaminated  by  it,  with- 
out experiencing  any  evil  effects  which  he  can  distinctly 
connect  with  its  influence,  and  yet  who  will  now  deny 
that  the  constant  action  of  this  minute  close  of  aerial 
poison  is  insidiously  undermining  his  vital  powers,  and 
preparing  him  to  become  the  easy  prey  of  any  destructive 
epidemic  ? So,  again,  we  see  that  a brief  exposure  to  the 
pestilential  atmosphere  of  the  swamps  of  the  Guinea  coast 
is  often  sufficient  to  induce  an  attack  of  the  most  rapidly 
fatal  forms  of  tropical  fever ; but  it  may  be  long  before 
the  dweller  among  the  marshy  lands  of  temperate  climates, 
inhaling  the  paludal  poison  in  its  less  concentrated  form, 
becomes  affected  with  intermittent  fever ; yet  no  one  has 
any  hesitation  in  recognizing  the  connection  of  cause  and 
effect  in  the  latter  case,  as  in  the  former.  So,  again,  the 
resident  in  a town,  where  the  insufficiency  of  the  drainage 
causes  the  surface-moisture  to  be  imperfectly  carried  off, 
and  to  be  not  merely  charged  with  the  malaria  of  vegetable 
decomposition,  but  with  the  miasmatic  emanations  of 
animal  putrescence,  may  be  free  from  serious  disorder,  if 
the  cause  does  not  operate  in  sufficient  intensity ; yet  he 
becomes  liable  in  a greatly  increased  degree  to  the  opera- 
tion of  almost  every  morbific  agent,  and  especially  to  that 


320 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


of  tlie  various  forms  of  fever-poison  ; and  no  one  who  has 
paid  even  a slight  degree  of  attention  to  the  result  of  the 
sanitary  inquiries  which  have  now  been  carried  on  for 
many  years  past,  hesitates  in  admitting  the  relation  of 
cause  and  effect  between  insufficiency  of  drainage  and  the 
higher  rate  of  mortality  in  undrained  localities,  although 
not  only  days  and  weeks,  but  months  and  years,  may  be 
required  for  the  operation  of  that  cause  upon  the  animal 
system.” 


The  late 

Samuel 

Bowley. 


A valuable 
suggestion 
by  Mr.  C. 
Kegan  Paul. 


The  decep- 
tive cha- 


But  even  supposing  that  an  innocent  dietetic  dose  of 
alcohol  had  been  discovered,  all  reasonable  arguments  tend 
to  prove  that  abstinence  would  even  then  be  preferable  to 
moderation.  In  a letter  published  in  the  Temperance 
Record  (July  3,  1879),  the  late  Samuel  Bowley  said, 
“ Total  abstinence  is  simple,  clear,  and  safe  for  all. 
Moderation  gives  no  help  to  the  drunkard.  Total  absti- 
nence, by  God’s  blessing,  has  reclaimed  thousands.  Mode- 
ration keeps  alive  the  insidious  temptation,  but  supplies  no 
strength  to  the  weak  to  resist  its  power.  Total  abstinence, 
by  removing  the  temptation,  effectually  protects  all. 
Moderate  drinking  necessarily  requires  the  continuance  of 
the  manufacture  and  sale  to  supply  its  demands.  Total 
abstinence  quietly,  but  effectually,  annihilates  the  traffic 
with  all  its  abounding  evils.  Moderation  attracts  the 
young  by  the  apparent  absence  of  danger.  Total  abstinence 
removes  the  danger,  and  thus  secures  then-  permanent 
safety.  Moderation  leads  the  masses  to  the  public-house, 
total  abstinence  keeps  them  outside.” 

In  an  article  on  Abstinence  and  Moderation  in  To-Day 
(January,  1884),  Mr.  C.  Kegan  Paul  very  appositely  says 
that,  even  if  an  invalid  believes  that  in  giving  up  what  is 
called  a moderate  supply  of  alcohol,  “ he  is  giving  up  a 
source  of  strength,  either  mental  or  bodily,  I would 
suggest,  even  supposing  this  to  be  a possible  danger,  that, 
whereas  he  knows  that  drink  is  sapping  his  strength, 
weakening  his  will,  lowering  his  bodily  tone,  abstinence 
can  do  no  more,  while  it  may  do  much  less,  and  if  he  is  to 
be  a weakling  under  any  circumstances  he  had  better  be  a 
sober  than  a drunken  invalid.” 

The  worker,  whether  he  is  a clergyman,  an  author,  or 
a day-labourer,  who  turns  to  alcohol  to  build  himself  up 


SPECIOUS  REASONINGS  ON  THE  USE  OF  ALCOHOL. 


321 


after  a hard  day’s  work,  simply  balances  one  exhaustive 
process  with  another — the  exhaustion  of  labour  with  the 
exhaustion  of  the  system  caused  by  its  efforts  to  dispose 
of  the  alcohol.  A certain  sense  of  relief,  of  apparent 
return  of  equilibrium,  may  be  felt  because  of  the  change 
consequent  upon  the  transfer  of  the  exhausting  process 
from  one  domain  of  the  system  to  another.  Bat  this  sense 
of  relief  is  purchased  at  the  expense  of  the  sum  total  and 
term  of  active  efficiency.  The  nervous  system  irritated 
by  alcohol  will  exact  larger  and  larger  doses  for  procuring 
the  brief  and  deceptive  relief ; greater  efforts  will  be 
exacted  of  the  system  for  getting  rid  of  it,  and  thus  the 
two  exhaustions  going  on  in  seemingly  parallel  lines, 
will  gradually  manifest  convergence  until  at  last  the 
powers  of  endurance  and  labour  will  more  or  less  abruptly 
collapse. 

§ 76.  Of  the  effects  of  “ moderate  ” drinking  on  the 
temper  and  disposition,  Dr.  Grindrod  (op.  cit.)  remarks — 

“ Experience  demonstrates  that  the  moderate  but 
habitual  use  of  inebriating  liquors  inflames  the  passions 
and  renders  the  disposition  susceptible  of  even  slight 
provocation.  It  weakens,  if  it  does  not  to  a great  degree 
destroy,  the  powers  of  reflection,  deliberation,  and  judg- 
ment ; the  relations  of  things  are  viewed  through  a coloured 
and  distorted  medium,  and  with  these  radical  transitions 
there  follows  an  utter  inability  to  estimate  character 
and  actions,  with  dispassionateness  and  discrimination. 
Aristotle  observes  that  man  while  in  a sober  state  reasons 
with  correctness,  because  he  makes  a proper  use  of  his 
judgment ; in  a state  of  utter  intoxication,  he  does  not 
reason  at  all ; when,  however,  he  is  partially  under  the 
influence  of  wine,  he  reasons  inaccurately,  and  therefore 
readily  falls  into  error  and  mischief.” 

Says  Dr.  Baer  ( Alcoliolismus , Berlin,  1878),  “ Undis- 
turbed reflection  and  quiet  comparison,  critical  regard  and 
deliberate  judgment,  impartial  observation  of  facts  and  the 
weighing  of  their  relationships— such  are  the  mental 
processes  to  which  mankind  owes  the  entire  treasure  of 
positive  knowledge,  including  the  progress  of  natural 
science,  technique,  and  industry ; such  processes  are  cer- 
tainly not  promoted  by  alcohol .” 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Hewitt  says  that  “ the  French  drink  to 

Y 


racter  of  the 
relief  at- 
tributed to 
the  moderate 
use  of 
alcohol  in 
cases  of  ex- 
haustion 
from  labour. 


Dr.  Grindrod 
on  the  effects 
produced  by 
moderate 
drinking 
upon  temper 
and  judg- 
ment. 


Dr.  Baer  on 
the  effects 
produced  on 
mental  pro- 
cesses by 
alcohol. 


Dr.  Hewitt 


322 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


on  the  cha- 
racter of 
moderate 
drinking 
among  the 
French. 


The  moral 
responsi- 
bility of  the 
moderate 
drinker. 


just  that  point  at  which  the  moral  sense  and  judgment  are 
laid  asleep,  but  all  their  other  faculties  remain  awake.  If 
they  do  not  drink  to  absolute  stupefaction  or  intoxication, 
it  is  because  sensuality  with  Frenchmen  is  a science  and  a 
system.” 

To-day  it  would  not  be  fair  to  say  this  of  Frenchmen 
only. 


Equally  deplorable  are  the  effects  of  “moderate” 
drinking  on  man’s  sense  of  duty  to  his  fellows. 

Moderate  drinkers  often  argue  that  as  they  have 
always  been  moderate,  have  never  exceeded,  nor  even  been 
tempted  to  exceed,  they  can  see  no  reason  why  they  should 
forego  what  they  regard  as  an  innocent  indulgence,  if  not 
a positive  benefit,  because  there  are  weak  people  who  lack 
judgment  or  power  to  restrain  their  appetites  within 
proper  limits.* 

* “ An  analysis  of  the  moral  elements  alleged  to  be  strengthened 
by  temptation  in  the  exceptional  cases  of  ‘superior’  virtue,  will  not 
justify  the  position  of  indifference  to  the  fate  and  feebleness  of 
others.  The  moral  elements  involved  are  two-fold : intellectual  and 
emotional.  First,  a person  declines  to  do  a certain  act,  because, 
though  pleasant  at  the  moment,  it  is  unfitting  in  its  relations,  and 
profitless  in  the  long  run.  It  is  a violation  of  lav:,  and  therefore  un- 
philosophical  or  foolish.  All  sin  is  so,  if  we  could  but  see  it : and 
when  we  actually  decline  pleasant  sins,  we  do  see  it.  This  may  be 
called  the  ‘ sense  ’ of  virtue.  But,  second,  there  is  the  ‘ sensibility  ’ 
of  virtue.  We  decline  sin  as  sin,  that  is,  because  it  is  a ‘wrong’ 
thing  : because  it  is  a relation  which  is  bad  objectively,  and  the  doing 
of  which  would  put  us  in  a bad  relation  subjectively . In  other  words, 
our  virtue  is  at  once  our  purity,  our  humanity,  and  our  piety ; we 
abstain  from  transgressing  law  out  of  regard  to  the  interests  of  our- 
self and  mankind,  and  out  of  reverence  to  the  Creator  of  the  law.  If 
these  perceptions  and  feelings  are  strong,  we  shall  act  upon  them 
habitually— in  other  words,  we  shall  crystallize  our  nature  in  the 
mould  of  virtue.  Is  not  that  better  than  spasmodic  attempts  at 
virtue,  with  the  risk  or  reality  of  frequent  failure  ? But  the  state  of 
mind,  and  attitude  of  being,  here  described,  is  just  as  true  of  the 
Abstainer  from  all  strong-drink,  as  of  the  Abstainer  from  (what  he 
calls)  ‘ excess.’  Both  resist  temptation  for  essentially  the  same  reasons 
— but  the  one  happens  to  know  more  accurately  where  the  evil  com- 
mences, and  the  other  certainly  feels  more  tempted  to  yield  to  the 
temptation  in  consequence  of  having  a liking  for  the  drink. 

‘ Besist  beginnings : whatso'er  is  ill, 

Though  it  appear  light  and  of  little  moment, 


SPECIOUS  REASONINGS  ON  THE  USE  OF  ALCOHOL. 


323 


la  a letter  to  the  Inquirer  (November  18,  1882),  tbe  The  Rev. 
Rev.  Stopforcl  A.  Brooke,  after  likening  the  course  of  the  Brookeoi^ 
drinker  to  a journey,  says,  “ The  question  is,  seeing  that  this  point, 
the  journey  is  so  deadly  a one,  ought  a man  to  begin  it  at 
all  ? If  he  begin  he  is  in  danger  of  going  on,  and  there  is 
not  one  inch  of  the  way  which  is  safe  ; for  alcohol  has  this 
peculiar  property,  that  it  always  lures  onwards,  that  one 
glass  asks  for  another.  The  moderate  drinker  is  obliged 
almost  daily  to  resist  that  allurement,  and  he  is  in  con- 
tinued peril  of  failures  to  resist ; and,  indeed,  it  is  a wonder 
he  is  not  more  afraid,  for  the  whole  mass  of  those  who 
have  been  killed  by  alcoholic  diseases,  who  have  been  made 
criminals  and  brutes  by  alcohol,  whom  alcohol  has  driven 
mad,  and  who  have  sown  in  their  children  the  seeds  which 
afterwards  quickened  weakness  of  constitution,  on  which 
any  disease  seizes,  into  idiotcy  or  mania  or  early  death, 
began  in  the  same  way,  went  the  first  stage  with  the 
moderate  drinker,  but  could  not  resist  the  invitation  for 
more  wdiich  the  first  stage  invariably  makes.  It  is  because 
all  this  is  so  terribly  true  that  we  say,  and  with  justice 
and  fairness,  that  the  moderate  drinker  is  in  danger,  and 
that  the  example  he  sets  does  more  harm  than  he  is 
aware  of.” 

But,  regarding  the  habit  for  the  moment  as  the  innocent 
indulgence  or  benefit  which  the  moderate  drinker  claims, 
what  if  these  weak  ones  could  be  strengthened  by  this 
self-denial  on  the  part  of  the  strong  P And  if  this  does 
not  impress,  let  us  come  closer,  and  ask  how  it  will  be  if 
the  weak  one  shall  appear  in  our  own  household,  be  a 
beloved  son,  who  cannot  stay  his  hand  as  we  have  been 
able  to  stay  ours  ? 

Ah  ! then  the  narrow  reasoning  falls  through,  and  in 
the  degradation  of  our  own  child  we  first  feel  how  it  is 
that  the  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  other  parents, 
mourning  and  ashamed,  had  a claim  that  we  failed  to 

Think  of  it  thus — that  what  it  is,  augmented, 

Would  run  to  strong  and  sharp  extremities ; 

Deem  of  it,  therefore,  as  a serpent’s  egg, 

Which,  hatched,  would,  as  its  kind,  grow  mischievous; 

Then  crush  it  in  the  shell.’ 

Shakespeke.” 

—Dr,  F.  R.  Lees,  in  Temperance  Text-Book,  vol.  i.  (London,  1884). 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


324 


The  Rev. 
James  Smith 
in  refutation 
of  the  argu- 
ment that 
moderation 
is  better  than 
abstinence. 


recognize,  and  how  their  shame  and  sorrow  is  our 
reproach. 

Says  the  Rev.  James  Smith,  in  his  Temperance  Refor- 
mation and  its  Claims  upon  the  Christian  Church  (London, 
1875),  “ It  is  urged  against  the  temperance  reformation 
that  temperance  is  a greater  virtue  than  abstinence.  It  is 
urged  that  moderation  is  the  dictate  both  of  reason  and 
Scripture,  abstinence  the  dictate  of  fanaticism  and  bigotry 
— the  latter,  being  unnatural  and  unreasonable,  will  defeat 
its  own  end,  and  by  producing  a reaction  will  foster  the 
very  evil  it  is  meant  to  cure;  you  might  as  well  abjure 
food  because  some  are  gluttons,  or  take  a pledge  never  to 
speak  because  language  is  often  abused,  as  abjure  strong 
drink  or  take  a pledge  to  abstain  because  some  become 
drunkards. 

“ Such  reasoning  has  a superficial  look  of  plausibility, 
but  it  will  not  bear  examination.  It  assumes  that  strong 
drink  is  a necessity,  or  least  very  useful,  and  that  its 
ordinary  use  is  in  accordance  with  nature  and  reason. 
But  if  this  be  not  so,  if  abstinence  be  more  reasonable  and 
natural  than  drinking,  the  argument  is  worthless.  There 
can  be  no  reaction  where  there  is  nothing  to  react,  and  the 
desire  for  strong  drink  never  originates  in  abstinence  from 
it,  but  in  the  use  of  it.  If  it  were  a natural  appetite,  its 
unnatural  repression  would,  in  all  probability,  produce  a 
reaction  ; but  it  is  not  natural,  and  our  contention  is,  that 
the  more  the  laws  of  nature  are  understood,  the  character 
of  strong  drink  examined,  and  the  dictates  of  reason  and 
science  obeyed,  the  more  general  will  the  practice  of 
abstinence  become. 

“ It  is,  no  doubt,  a matter  of  frequent  occurrence  that 
where  intemperate  habits  have  been  already  formed,  a 
period  of  enforced  abstinence  is  succeeded  by  a deeper 
debauch ; but  such  a case  is  quite  beside  the  mark,  unless 
it  can  be  shown  that  the  craving  for  strong  drink  was 
formed  originally  in  consequence  of  abstinence,  and  that  a 
similar  craving  is  likely  to  be  formed  in  cases  of  habitual 
voluntary  abstinence,  which  is  directly  contrary  to  science 
and  experience.  The  analogy  between  abstinence  from 
strong  drink  and  from  food  is  clearly  inadmissible,  unless 
some  specific  kind  of  food  of  a highly  unwholesome  and 
dangerous  character  be  selected  on  which  to  base  the 


SPECIOUS  REASONINGS  ON  THE  USE  OF  ALCOHOL. 


325 


argument ; but  in  that  case  the  argument  is  manifestly 
destroyed.  We  object  to  strong  drink  as  a wrong  kind  of 
drink,  and  we  would  equally  object  to  any  kind  of  food  of 
which  the  characteristic  ingredient  was  alcohol.” 

In  the  Church  Sunday  School  Magazine  (September, 
1883),  Mr.  C.  Kegan  Paul  says — • 

“ It  is  admitted  that  for  the  drunkard,  for  the  man  who 
has  a craving  for  drink,  total  abstinence  is  needful ; but  we 
are  told  that  moderation  is  a better  thing,  and  that  those 
who  can  use  their  liberty  aright  had  better  do  so.  But 
see  how  such  argument  looks  from  the  side  of  the  drinker. 
In  the  first,  place,  not  all  who  have  these  cravings,  and 
who  are  therefore  in  imminent  danger,  are  ready  to  admit 
that  the  case  is  so  ill  with  them.  They  are  not  prepared 
to  say,  as  it  were,  to  the  world  by  the  fact  of  abstinence, 
that  being  unable  to  govern  their  appetites  they  put  away 
temptation  once  for  all,  nor  is  there  any  reason  why  they 
should  thus  introduce  every  one  into  the  dark  secrets  of 
their  souls.  But  knowing  ‘ the  plague  of  their  own  heart,’ 
they  may  well  be  content  to  have  this  private  reason  for 
joining  a band  of  persons  who  give  up  strong  drink  for 
the  equally  true,  but  less  urgent  reason,  that  abstinence 
for  social  causes,  perhaps  on  all  grounds  of  health  and 
morals,  is  the  better  way. 

“ Besides,  there  is  something  mocking  and  cynical  in 
going  to  a person  to  whom  drink  is  a temptation — the 
power  of  which  is  difficult  to  realize  by  those  who  have 
given  little  attention  to  the  matter — who  is  shaken  by  the 
very  scent  of  drink  as  by  some  outside  physical  force,  who 
craves  for  alcohol  as  the  hart  pants  for  the  water-brooks, 
even  when  he  knows  it  is  like  the  rill  in  German  story, 
which  babbled  as  it  ran  along,  ‘ Whoever  drinks  of  me 
will  become  a wild  beast  ’ — there  is  something  cynical,  I 
say,  in  virtually  appealing  to  such  a one,  ‘ You  to  whom 
this  is  so  tremendous  a struggle  must  make  it,  hut  I to  whom 
it  is  next  to  none  will  not  share  your  burden  with  you.’  ” 

But  God  sometimes  speaks  through  a single  individual 
experience  with  a voice  that  smites  like  a sword  sheer 
through  the  most  impregnable  walls  of  plausible  and 
specious  argument  in  which  we  selfishly  intrench  and  con- 
ceal a cherished  evil.  Nothing  that  any  one  can  say,  be 
it  ever  so  cleverly,  in  favour  of  alcoholic  liquors,  can  stand 


C.  Kegan 
Paul  on  the 
6ame  point. 


326 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Charles 
Lamb’s 
warning 
appeal  to 
young  men. 


Dr.  Howard 
Crosby’s  ob- 
jections to 
the  temper- 
ance pledge, 
and  Mr. 
Wendell 
Phillips’ 
reply. 


for  an  instant  before  but  one  sncb  beart-rent  warning  as 
these  words  of  Charles  Lamb : — “ 0 if  a wish  could  trans- 
port me  back  to  those  days  of  youth,  when  a draught  from 
the  next  clear  spring  could,  slake  any  heats  which  summer 
suns  and  youthful  exercise  had  power  to  stir  up  in  the 
blood,  how  gladly  would  I return  to  thee,  pure  element, 
the  drink  of  children,  and  of  childlike  holy  hermits ! In 
my  dreams  I can  sometimes  fancy  thy  cool  refreshment 
purling  over  my  burning  tongue — but  my  waking  stomach 
rejects  it.  That  which  refreshes  innocence  only  makes  me 
sick  and  faint.  But  is  there  no  middle  way  betwixt  total 
abstinence  and  the  excess  which  kills  you  ? For  your 
sake,  reader,  and  that  you  may  never  attain  to  my  ex- 
perience, with  pain  I must  utter  the  dreadful  truth,  that 
there  is  none,  none!' 

§ 77.  The  question  of  the  worth  and  effectiveness  of  the 
temperance  pledge  has  evoked  a deal  of  specious  reasoning. 
Dr.  Howard  Crosby,  of  Hew  York,  an  influential  advocate 
of  the  so-called  moderate  use  of  alcohol,  in  his  lecture 
on  A Calm  View  of  the  Temperance  Question,  delivered  in 
Tremont  Temple,  Boston  (January  10,  1881),  declared,  the 
temperance  pledge  to  be  “a  most  pernicious  instrument  for 
debauching  the  conscience  . . . always  an  injury  and  never 
a help  to  a true  morality  ...  a substitute  for  principle,  an 
invitation  to  further  sin.” 

In  the  same  hall,  two  weeks  later,  Mr.  Wendell 
Phillips  replied,  and  concerning  the  true  significance  of 
taking  the  pledge,  he  said — 

“Dr.  Crosby  passes  to  the  great  weapon  of  the  temper- 
ance movement,  the  pledge.  This  he  calls  ‘ unmanly,’  ‘ a 
strait  jacket ; ’ says  it  kills  self-respect  and  undermines  all 
character. 

“ Hannah  More  said,  ‘ We  cannot  expect  perfection  in 
any  one,  but  we  may  demand  consistency  of  every  one.’ 

“ It  doesn’t  tend  to  show  the  sincerity  of  these  critics 
of  our  cause,  when  we  find  them  objecting  in  us  to  what 
they  themselves  unifonnly  practise  on  all  other  occasions. 
If  we  continue  to  believe  in  their  sincerity,  it  can  only  be 
at  the  expense  of  their  intelligence.  Dr.  Crosby  is  un- 
doubtedly a member  of  a church.  Does  he  mean  to  say 
that  when  his  church  demanded  his  signature  to  its  creed 
and  his  pledge  to  obey  its  discipline,  it  asked  what  it  was' 


SPECIOUS  REASONINGS  ON  THE  USE  OF  ALCOHOL. 


327 


‘unmanly’  in  him  to  grant,  and  what  destroys  an  in- 
dividual’s character — that  his  submission  to  this  is  ‘ fore- 
going his  reasoning,’  ‘ sinking  back  to  his  nonage  ’ P etc. 
Of  course  he  assents  to  none  of  these  things.  He  only 
objects  to  a temperance  pledge,  not  to  a church  one. 

“ The  husband  pledges  himself  to  his  wife,  and  she  to 
him  for  life.  Is  the  marriage  ceremony,  then,  a curse,  a 
hindrance  to  virtue  and  progress  P 

“ I have  known  men  who,  borrowing  money,  refused  to 
sign  any  promissory  note : they  thought  it  unmanly,  and 
evidence  that  I distrusted  them.  Does  Dr.  Crosby  think 
the  world  should  change  its  customs  and  immediately 
adopt  that  plan  ? 

“ Society  rests  in  all  its  transactions  on  the  idea  that 
a solemn  promise,  pledge,  assertion,  strengthens  and  assures 
the  act.  It  recognizes  this  principle  of  human  nature. 
The  witness  on  the  stand  gives  solemn  promise  to  tell  the 
truth ; the  officer,  about  to  assume  place  for  one  year  or 
ten,  or  for  life,  pledges  his  word  and  oath  ; the  grantor  in 
a deed  binds  himself  for  all  time  by  record ; churches, 
societies,  universities,  accept  funds  on  pledges  to  appro- 
priate them  to  certain  purposes,  and  to  no  other — these 
and  a score  more  of  instances  can  be  cited.  In  any  final 
analysis  all  these  rest  on  the  same  principle  as  the  temper- 
ance pledge.  Ho  man  ever  denounced  them  as  unmanly. 
I sent  this  month  a legacy  to  a literary  institution  on 
certain  conditions,  and  received  in  return  its  pledge  that 
the  money  should  ever  be  sacredly  used  as  directed.  The 
doctor’s  principle  would  unsettle  society,  and  if  one  pro- 
posed to  apply  it  to  any  cause  but  temperance,  practical 
men  would  quietly  put  him  aside  as  out  of  his  head. 

“ These  cobweb  theories,  born  of  isolated  cloister  life, 
do  not  bear  exposure  to  the  midday  sun  or  the  rude  winds 
of  practical  life.  This  is  not  a matter  of  theory.  It  must 
be  tested  and  settled  by  experience  and  results.  Thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  attest  the  value  of  the  pledge.  It 
never  degraded,  it  only  lifted  them  to  a higher  life.” 

§ 78.  To  take  up,  in  closing,  some  of  the  well-worn 
arguments,  based  on  exceptional  instances,  which  greatly 
help  in  forming  and  cementing  the  habit  of  drink,  I may  cite 
the  very  common  one  of  the  man  who  says  he  has  drunk 
daily,  one,  two  or  three  glasses  of  wine  or  beer,  with  or 


The  fallacy 
of  positive 
deductions 
in  arguing 
the  general 


328 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


from  the 
exceptional. 


Examples. 


without  a glass  or  two  of  whisky,  for  the  last  ten,  fifteen, 
or  twenty  years.  “ Just  look  at  me  ! ” he  says.  “ Don’t  I 
look  well  ? Why,  I look  in  better  health  than  you  do, 
and  I’ve  never  known  a sick  day.  Don’t  that  prove  that 
moderate  drinking  is  good  for  a man  ? ” 

This  sort  of  talk  never  seems  to  arrest  attention  as  to 
the  selfishness  * of  thinking  of  such  a broad  question  only 
as  it  concerns  the  individual.  Concerning  the  individual, 
it  sounds  convincing,  and  does  convince,  or  rather  satisfy 
many.  But  considering  it  impartially,  we  have  to  inquire 
into  the  character  and  condition  of  this  man.  Is  he 
trustworthy  on  other  points  ? for  if  not,  there  is,  of  course, 
no  reason  to  take  his  testimony  on  this.  If  he  is  trust- 
worthy, the  value  of  his  testimony  depends  upon  what  are 
his  notions  of  health ; whether  he  means  by  health  merely 
the  ability  of  daily  attending  in  the  usual  more  or  less 
humdrum  way  to  his  duties,  or  the  bounding  energy  which 
makes  work  a pleasure,  and  leaves  one  a surplus  for  joy 
and  rest  when  work  is  done.  We  must  know  if  his  parents 
or  grandparents  drank,  and  to  what  degree ; whether  he 
was  orderly  or  dissolute  in  his  youth ; at  what  age  he 
began  to  use  intoxicants,  what  his  occupation  has  been, 
and  what  care  or  precautions  he  has  taken  to  preserve  his 
health.  On  such  and  many  other  points  full  information 
is  essential  to  a just  estimate  of  his  evidence  in  favour  of 
drinking. 

Until  cases  of  moderate  drinking  continued  through 
two  or  three  generations  can  show  generally  healthy 
descendants  in  the  third  generation,  this  plea,  usually 
claimed  as  a “ knock-down  ” argument,  has  absolutely  no 
value,  except  to  point  the  self-absorption  of  the  man  who 
makes  it,  and  those  who  are  influenced  by  it. 

Another  argument  very  frequently  advanced  is  that 
drinkers,  and  not  only  moderate  ones,  live  longer  than 
other  people,  unless  accident  or  high  living  carry  them  off. 

Such  an  argument  regarding  alcohol  is  neither  better 

* “ One  long-lived  glutton  or  drunkard  kills  more  by  his  example, 
and  the  flattering  hopes  those  who  know  not  their  own  strength  and 
what  they  were  made  to  bear,  entertain,  than  Hippocrates  ever 
saved.” — George  Chevne,  in  Natural  Method  of  curing  the  Diseases  of 
the  Body  and  the  Mind.  (London,  17T2.) 


SPECIOUS  REASONINGS  ON  THE  USE  OF  ALCOHOL. 


329 


founded  nor  more  logical  than  it  would  be  if  applied  to 
exceptional  longevity  in  cases  of  persons  living  in  malarial 
localities,  or  surviving  the  ordeal  of  the  Sierra  Leone,  or 
employed  as  needle-grinders  in  Sheffield.  According  to 
statistics,  the  age  of  the  latter  seldom  exceeds  forty  years. 
In  the  face  of  this  fact,  occasional  instances  of  a longer 
term  of  existence  among  them  would  hardly  lead  to  an 
advocacy  of  the  employment  of  needle-grinding  as  con- 
ducive to  long  life. 

Neither  would  the  fact  that  a man  and  his  family 
have  lived  in  fair  health  all  their  lives  to  a good  old 
age  over  a foetid  cesspool — as  seems  to  have  at  times 
happened — be  likely  to  be  advanced  as  an  argument  in 
favour  of  generally  establishing  such  reservoirs  of 
pestilence  under  the  family  hearth-stone ! I once  heard 
of  an  extraordinary  accident  happening  to  a man  at  work 
where  blasting  was  being  done.  During  a premature 
explosion,  a long  piece  of  the  drilling  bar  shot  upward  from 
the  pit  which  was  being  excavated,  and,  entering  the  man’s 
head  under  the  chin,  passed  vertically  entirely  through  his 
head,  and,  still  ascending,  fell  at  last  at  some  distance. 
He  staggered  and  fell,  and  his  instant  death  was  naturally 
expected.  Not  so.  To  the  amazement  of  all,  and  the 
downright  incredulity  of  physicians,  he  recovered,  and, 
whereas  he  had  been  before  the  accident  morose  and  un- 
reliable, he  was  now  genial  and  to  be  depended  upon.  But 
from  this  it  would  hardly  be  argued  that  men  should 
subject  themselves  to  this  sort  of  experiment  as  probably 
conducive  to  improvement  in  temper  and  character  ! 

But  even  supposing  this  argument  of  alcoholic  longevity 
were  true,  are  not  the  drinkers  overwhelmingly  more 
numerous  than  the  abstainers ; and  therefore,  other  things 
being  equal,  the  number  of  aged  drinkers  would,  of  course, 
be  greater  than  that  of  aged  abstainers  ; and  what  criterion 
of  comparison  has  been  used  for  the  longevity  ? To  judge 
from  the  insurance  and  other  statistics  which  are  quoted 
in  chap,  x.,  comparing,  under  equitable  conditions,  equal 
numbers  of  drinkers  and  abstainers,  it  was  found  that 
abstainers  much  more  generally  reached  an  advanced  age 
than  drinkers. 

But  what  does  this  plea  for  longevity  mean,  urged  by 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


people  whose  chief  aim  in  life  is  not  to  live — is  to  kill 
time,  not  to  use  it ; and  who,  if  not  successful  in  killing 
time,  do  not  unfrequently  kill  themselves  ? 

If  longevity  were  the  measure  of  effectiveness,  if 
drinkers  counted  each  day  a priceless  boon  to  be  used  as 
nobly  as  they  knew  how,  then  indeed  would  this  argument, 
if  true,  be  powerful  in  favour  of  alcohol.  But  we  have 
yet  to  see  a man  whose  character  has  been  ennobled  by 
drinking,  or  a drinker  who  grows  nobler  and  better  as  he 
grows  older.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  a fact  that  some  of 
the  most  effective  lives  have  been  short.  And  of  only 
three  years  of  public  work — such  work  as  no  man  has 
measured  nor  can  measure— did  not  the  Master  say,  “ It  is 
finished  ” ? 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 

“ While  drinking  continues,  poverty  and  vice  will  prevail ; and 
until  this  is  abandoned,  no  regulation,  no  efforts,  no  authority  under 
heaven,  can  raise  the  condition  of  the  working  classes.  It  is 
worse  than  a plague  or  a pestilence,  and  the  man  is  no  friend  to  his 
country  who  does  not  lift  up  his  voice  and  proclaim  his  example 
against  it.” — Mr.  J.  Livesey,  in  the  Moral  Reformer,  July  1,  1831.* 

“ Drink,  the  only  terrible  enemy  whom  England  has  to  fear.” — 
The  late  Prince  Leopold,  Duke  of  Albany. 

§ 79.  In  discussing  the  question  of  what  can  be  done  to 
reduce  and  vanquish  the  drink-evil,  the  limits  and  propor- 
tion of  the  present  work  restrict  me  in  touching  upon  what 
has  been  done — a noble  record,  full  of  interest— to  only 
such  general  mention  or  occasional  particularization  as  is 
essential  to  the  consideration  of  further  reform  effort. 

In  the  opening  pages  of  this  book  it  was  pointed  out 
that  among  the  ancients  the  severest  laws  were  put  in 
force  against  drunkenness ; that  it  was  even,  and  not 
unfrequently,  punished  with  death.  Ancient  legal  and 
historical  writings  are  replete  with  edicts  and  instances 
showing  that  drunkenness  was  treated  as  a great  crime. f 

Why  did  the  temperance  reform  efforts  in  the  past 
fail  ? 

Why  have  such  efforts  failed  even  up  to  the  present 
century  ? 

Why,  at  various  times  during  the  last  fifty  years,  have 

* Mr.  Livesey’s  first  public  denunciation  of  alcohol. 

f See  ZenophoD,  Plato,  Athemeus,  Plutarch,  Pliny,  Dion  of  Hali- 
carnassus, Diodorus  Siculus,  Strabo,  and  others. 


332 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Why  past 
temperance 
efforts  failed. 


Their  cha- 
racter. 


Early 

moderation 

Societies. 


apparently  great  strides  towards  temperance  alternated 
with  great  relapses  ? 

What  reasons  have  we  to  expect  or  hope  that  the 
present  popular  interest  and  labours  in  the  cause  of 
temperance  are  sowing  the  seed  of  a permanent  success  ? 

One  large  general  difference  between  past  and  present 
efforts  in  regard  to  temperance  lies  in  this  broad  distinction 
between  the  two  ages,  that  in  antiquity  the  nation  was  for 
the  government,  or  rather  the  sovereign ; while  in  our 
days  governments,  generally  speaking,  exist  for  the  people. 

Antiquity  lacked  the  innumerable  means  of  bodily  and 
mental  communication,  which,  irrespective  of  the  demarca- 
tions of  birth,  fortune,  and  special  circumstance,  suffice  in 
our  day  to  bring  men  together  on  one  common  intellectual 
level  in  the  study  of  mankind. 

Among  the  ancients,  temperance  decrees  proceeded 
from  the  sovereign.  They  were  framed  to  include  only 
such  of  his  subjects  as  enjoyed  the  royal  favour,  and  to 
these  the  royal  mandates  were  a matter  of  blind  obedience, 
not  of  persuasion  or  conviction.  Such  decrees  were  as 
fitful  in  their  character  and  occurrence  as  the  whims  of  the 
monarch  issuing  them ; their  observance  depended  on  the 
subjects’  loyalty,  usually  an  allegiance  of  craft  or  fear; 
and  they  contained  no  element  of  reform,  although  at  long 
intervals,  great  historians,  philosophers,  and  physicians 
sounded  the  note  of  warning. 

In  later  ages  the  popes  sometimes  united  with  the 
rulers  of  Europe  to  stay  the  evil  of  drink,  but  to  little 
purpose.  So-called  moderation  societies  were  even  formed 
among  the  nobles  of  Germany. 

Dr.  Baer  mentions,  in  his  Alcoliolismus  (Berlin,  1878), 
that  “ The  First  Order  of  Moderation  ” was  founded  by 
Frederick  III. ; that  the  badge,  a cross  with  a design  of 
tankards,  and  inscribed  with  the  motto  Halt  Hass  (be 
moderate),  was  worn  by  the  emperor  at  festivities;  that 
his  son,  Maximilian  I.,  publicly  expressed  his  abhorrence 
of  intemperance  at  a number  of  his  diets ; that  the 
knightly  order  of  St.  Christopher  “ for  the  abolition  of 
profanity  and  drinking,”  was  founded  early  in  the  six- 
teenth century  by  Sigismund  von  Diedrichstein,  a noble- 
man of  Carinthia  and  Styria ; and  that  a few  years  later 
an  abstinence  fraternity  was  instituted  by  Louis,  Count 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE? 


333 


Palatine,  and  Richard,  Elector  of  Treves,  fifteen  bishops 
and  princes,  and  many  nobles  entering  it. 

Dr.  Baer  also  refers  to  the  Palatine  Order  of  the  Golden 
Ping , the  symbol  of  membership  being  a gold  ring,  which 
was  forfeited  back  to  the  community  by  any  member  who 
proved  reci’eant  in  drinking  toasts ; and  mentions  the 
famous  temperance  order  founded  by  the  Landgrave  of 
Hesse  in  1600. 

Tet  all  these  societies,  and  numerous  others  which 
succeeded  them,  like  the  efforts  made  in  antiquity,  soon 
passed  away.  Why  ? Chiefly  for  these  reasons,  first, 
because  they  lacked  what  we  possess — the  knowledge  that 
alcohol  is  always  a poison,  and  therefore  naturally 
imagined  the  only  remedy  necessary  lay  in  moderation  ; 
secondly,  because  these  societies  did  not  originate  in  moral 
conviction  of  the  nature  of  the  evil  they  were  to  operate 
against : they  were  not  formed  with  any  reference  to 
rooting  out  intemperance  among  the  people,  but  were  due 
rather  to  the  proud  egoism  of  the  nobles,  who,  indifferent 
to  the  vice  as  it  existed  among  the  masses,  nevertheless 
disdained  to  practise  in  common  with  them. 

This  century  (nineteenth)  has  seen  a marked  departure 
from  the  whole  past  in  a great  many  respects,  but  in 
perhaps  nothing  so  decisively  as  in  the  constantly  in- 
creasing recognition  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  individual, 
and  the  absolute  interdependence  of  all  individuals,  high 
and  low,  rich  and  poor,  of  which  recognition  the  general 
education  of  all  youth  is  a proud  instalment. 

Whence  we  have  the  steadily  growing  tendency  to 
level  all  barriers  interfering  with  a universal  mental 
development ; and  in  the  struggle  for  progress,  in  the 
sturdy  investigation  of  the  causes  of  the  inequalities  which 
constitute  all  the  difference  between  worth  and  worth- 
lessness, between  happiness  and  misery,  the  students  of 
humanity  have  discovered  that  alcohol  is  a chief  agent, 
the  chief  agent,  in  the  sense  that  intemperance  produces,  is 
often  produced  by,  is  associated  with,  and  gathers  to 
itself,  all  other  kinds  of  vice  and  degradation. 

Hence  the  modern  temperance  movement  is  based  on 
knowledge,  conviction,  and  aspiration,  and  on  a sentiment 
of  fellowship  and  fraternity  much  deeper  and  stronger 
than  has  ever  been  felt  before. 


Special 
reasons  for 
their  failure. 


Character- 
istics of  the 
modern  tem- 
perance 
movement. 


334 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  epoch 
originating 
the  present 
popular 
temperance 
movement ; 
how  it  pro- 
gressed, col- 
lapsed, and 
revived. 


This  points  the  essential  difference  between  the  past 
and  the  present. 

About  fifty  years  ago  there  sprang  up  almost  simul- 
taneously from  among  the  hard-working  masses  of  America, 
Germany,  Great  Britain,  and  Sweden,  the  core  of  the  pre- 
sent popular  temperance  movement. 

These  little  bodies  took  the  position  that  alcoholic 
drinks  are  always  harmful,  to  the  individual,  society,  and 
the  State. 

They  discontinued  drinking  among  themselves.  They 
went,  like  the  apostles  of  olden  times,  among  the  people 
to  preach  the  only  temperance  gospel;  they  were  loyal, 
patient,  and  earnest,  and  their  words,  works,  and  lives 
carried  conviction  into  millions  of  hearts. 

Still,  in  a few  years  the  whole  movement  had  subsided, 
and  most  of  those  who  had  promised  reform  went  back  to 
their  old  habits  and  associations,  but — not  all. 

Meanwhile,  the  great  advance  made  in  physiological 
science  had  naturally  been  applied  to  the  investigation  of 
the  effects  of  alcohol  on  the  human  system,  and  the 
ominous  dicta  of  that  science,  coupled  with  the  appalling 
reports  of  the  effects  of  (drunkenness  as  made  by  a more 
perfect  statistical  system,  corroborated  and  strengthened 
by  the  genuine  and  noble  pleas  of  the  little  band  of  faith- 
ful ones,  re-awakened  public  interest,  and  this  fresh 
impulse,  supported  by  increased  practical  knowledge  of  the 
true  ch arac ter  of  the  evil,  has  led  to  many  attempts  and 
plans  for  reform.  

§ 80.  The  present  remedial  efforts  are  usually  sum- 
marized under  the  following  three  heads — political,  social, 
and  individual. 

And  this  being  the  order  in  which  success  is  most 
generally  anticipated,  I will  deal  with  them  in  this  order, 
although,  for  my  own  part,  I believe  that  individual  and 
social  reform  must  be  the  basis  of  any  permanently  good 
temperance  legislation. 

There  seems  to  be  much  misunderstanding  and  con- 
fusion as  to  what  may  reasonably  be  expected  from 
Government. 

As  regards  England,  every  Englishman  knows  that 


Summary  of 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


335 


this  Government  is  theoretically  of  the  people,  through 
the  people,  and  for  the  people.  Any  Government  lacking 
this  qualification  would  soon  cease  to  be. 

Modern  English  history  teems  with  incidents  sub- 
stantiating this  statement.  Even  a single  unpopular 
measure  has  more  than  once  been  sufficient  to  overthrow 
the  Government  passing  it.  All  that  exists,  therefore, 
politically  speaking,  by  its  very  existence  proves  the 
nation’s  acceptance  thereof,  just  as  much  as  its  disappear- 
ance would  prove  the  nation’s  disapprobation. 

But  while  this  is  true  theoretically,  and  would,  in  any 
matter  which  thoroughly  aroused  the  masses,  become  true 
in  fact,  we  have  to  remember  that  the  masses  are  slow  to 
bestir  themselves.  They  are  like  the  cow  in  the  pasture, 
to  use  a homely  illustration — calm,  benevolent,  cud-chew- 
ing, drowsily  indifferent  to  what  sort  of  measures  or 
informs  are  being  adopted  by  the  fence-makers,  secreting 
and  daily  yielding  with  little  demur  rich  streams  of  milk  ; 
but  if  the  cow  be  too  much  baited,  the  udders  secrete 
little,  yield  less,  and  a vicious  not-to-be-mistaken  kick 
upsets  the  milk-pail,  milk,  and  all. 

The  masses  have  practically  let  their  power  slip  out  of 
their  hands,  and,  though  they  can  at  any  time  resume  it, 
busy  and  inured  to  routine,  they  are  not  readily  roused  to 
do  so.  Then  the  suffrage  is  restricted,  the  land  and 
wealth  of  the  country  is  controlled  by  the  few  magnates, 
and  while  the  masses  acquiesce  in  this  state  of  affairs,  the 
will  of  the  people  amounts  to  the  will  of  the  magnates. 

This  will  is  expressed  through  the  members  of  Parlia- 
ment, and  the  Government  being  party  government,  its 
existence  depends  upon  its  loyalty  to  party  interests.  Both 
of  the  ruling  parties  vie  with  each  other  for  popular 
favour — the  Conservative  in  the  direction  of  maintaining 
the  past  in  politics  ; the  Liberal  in  the  direction  of  a 
methodic,  slow,  and  safe  transformation  and  extension  of 
political  powers  and  rights  in  accordance  with  the  impera- 
tive needs  of  the  age.  Both  parties  champion  popular 
opinion  when  out  of  office,  and  both  of  them  when  in  office, 
as  far  as  is  safe  for  their  tenure  of  office — forced  perhaps 
by  exigencies  and  considerations  they  had  not  pre-estimated 
— ignore  and  defy  it.  In  such  circumstances  the  Govern- 
ment, being  unable  to  pass  measures  without  its  party’s 


the  character 
and  extent 
of  the 
powers  and 
obligations 
of  the 
British 
Government 
in  internal 
reforms. 


The  sove- 
reign power, 
and  hence 
responsi- 
bility, of  the 
masses. 


336 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  people 
responsible 
for  the 
morality  of 
Parliament 
and  Govern- 
ment, not  the 
Government 
for  that  of 
the  people. 


consent,  cannot  safely  ignore  or  resist  its  party ; and,  as 
the  wealth  of  the  country  is  largely  concerned  in  the  liqnor 
trade,  and  as  the  liqnor  trade  is  the  largest  and  surest 
resource  of  governmental  revenue,  it  must  be  apparent 
that  pressure  for  complete  or  only  partial  prohibition, 
unless  such  pressure  he  brought  to  bear  by  the  solid  masses 
of  the  country,  is  not  likely  to  meet  with  ready  response 
from  either  Parliament  or  Government. 

Another  mistaken  notion  as  to  the  nature  and  function 
of  Government,  is  that  of  supposing  it  to  be  a moral 
guardian  of  the  people.  The  office  of  a constitutional 
government  is  nothing  more  and  nothing  less  than  that  of 
faithfully  executing  the  laws  and  decrees  of  the  country  in 
an  almost  machine-like  manner,  and  of  taking  no  initiative 
for  either  making  or  abrogating  laws  without  unmistak- 
able evidence  of  the  nation’s  readiness  and  desire. 

The  avalanches  of  contumely  which  have  been  heaped 
upon  governments  for  not  supporting  legislative  measures 
of  or  tending  towards  prohibition,  have  mostly  sprung 
from  this  erroneous  assumption,  that  the  Government  is 
the  moral  guardian  of  the  nation.*  If  temperance  is  made 
a national  instead  of  a party  question,  Parliament  and 
Government  will  make  no  objection,  because  on  national 
questions  Parliament  speaks  for  the  people,  and  on  such 
questions  the  Government  is  as  sensitive  to  Parliament  as 
is  the  exchange  to  financiers.  As  long  as  the  national  will 
is  not  pronouncedly  against  the  liquor  trade,  Parliament  will 
remain  practically  deaf  to  special  petitions  ; but  as  soon  as 
the  nation  sees  the  evil  of  the  liquor  trade  no  Parliament 
can  uphold  it.  Any  attempt  by  Government  to  fore- 
stall the  popular  mind  on  this  question  would  be  a 
usurpation  of  popular  rights,  likely  to  be  productive  of 

* I wish,  however,  not  to  be  misunderstood  as  meaning’  that 
morality  ought  to  be  separated  from  politics.  I think  it  indispensable 
to  vital  morality  that  no  division  should  exist  between  private  and 
public  morality;  personally,  I believe  the  two  to  be  inseparable. 
But  it  is  the  people  who  are  responsible  for  the  morality  of  Parliament 
and  Government,  not  the  Government  for  that  of  the  people.  If  a 
country  is  animated  by  morality,  its  laws,  representatives,  and  govern- 
ment must  be  moral;  but  if,  on  the  contrary,  greed,  expediency,  and 
political  sophistry  are  the  motive  forces  of  national  life,  they  will 
inevitably  get  their  completest  expression  through  the  representative 
and  executive  bodies. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


337 


more  harm  than  good  to  the  temperance  cause ; * although 
of  course  it  is  not  only  laudable,  but  the  positive  duty  of 
Government  members  to,  in  an  unofficial  capacity,  assist  in 
educating  the  popular  mind  on  this  subject. 

As  Zschokke  says,  in  his  Branntwein  Pest  (27ie  Brandy 
Pest , Arau,  1857),  “All  laws  are  powerless  for  ex- 
tinguishing an  evil  which  has  taken  root  in  the  life  of  the 
people ; it  is  from  the  people  itself  that  the  reform  of 
morals  must  proceed,  but  no  government  is  strong  enough 
to  bring  it  about.” 

§ 81.  It  is  a grave  question  whether  the  continuous 
bending  of  all  efforts  in  the  direction  of  legislation  does 
not  divert  the  individual  mind  from  the  individual  import- 
ance of  the  subject ; whether  this  making  of  a profoundly 
moral  subject  into  one  of  legislative  controversy,  of 
inaking  a national  and  race  issue  a shuttlecock  between 
political  parties — a stake  of  gambling  for  office — is  not 
vitiating  the  cause  of  temperance. 

The  defence  of  the  country  against  invading  armies 
is  not  allowed  to  be  a question  of  party  tactics,  neither 
should  the  question  which,  in  case  of  an  invasion,  would 
more  than  any  other  decide  the  issue  of  the  contest. 

As  in  the  case  of  an  invasion,  her  army  and  navy  would 
be  England’s  dependence,  the  enforcement  of  absolute 
sobriety  among  the  defenders  of  the  country,  officers  and 
men  alike,  would  seem  to  be  a paramount  duty  of  Govern- 
ment. History  furnishes  ample  precedent  that  nearly  all 
the  ancient,  many  mediaeval,  and  some  of  the  modern 
powers  (notably  American)  prohibited  and  prohibit  drink- 
ing in  their  armies  and  navies. 

In  the  vigorous  days  of  ancient  Carthage  and  Rome, 
the  penalty  for  drunkenness  in  the  army  was  death ; and 
long  after,  when  the  people  generally  had  become  aban- 
doned to  drink  and  debauchery,  the  discipline  of  sobriety 
was  enforced  among  the  troops,  although  at  last  they  fell 
to  drink  and  then  their  countries  were  vanquished. 

It  is  an  historic  fact  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  power  was 

* “We  win  a surer  victory  when  public  opinion  is  with  us  than 
when  by  catch-legislation  we  anticipate  that  public  opinion,  and  suffer, 
according  to  the  law  of  the  universe,  a swift  reaction.” — Bishop  of 
Rochester,  in  his  address  on  Temperance  at  Victoria  Hall,  Lambeth, 
Nov.  12,  1883. 

Z 


Dangers 
attending 
political 
agitation  on 
moral  issues. 


The  para- 
mount im- 
portance of 
sobriety  for 
the  protec- 
tion of 
national 
independ- 
ence. 


The  battle  of 
Hastings 
lost  through 
drink. 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


conquered  by  its  intemperance,  just  as  were  Babylon  and 
Syracuse  of  antiquity.  Hume  states  that  King  Edgar 
strove  to  check  intemperance  by  allowing  only  one  ale- 
house to  each  town.  Still,  we  find  that  the  Anglo-Saxon 
army  passed  the  night  before  the  momentous  battle  of 
Hastings  in  drink  and  riot,  while  the  numerically  inferior 
Norman  forces  passed  it  in  prayer  and  fasting. 

Says  Fuller,  in  his  Church  History  of  Britain : — 

“ The  English  being  revelling  before,  had,  in  the  morn- 
ing, their  brains  arrested  for  the  arrearages  of  the  undi- 
gested fumes  of  the  former  night,  and  were  no  better  than 
drunk  when  they  came  to  fight.”  * 

England  must  look  to  it  that  the  ravages  from  drink 
are  stopped  before  it  is  too  late.f  Commenting  on  the 

* E.  C.  Delevan,  in  his  Temperance  Essays  (New  York,  1866),  quotes 
from  the  Richmond  Enquirer,  Confederate  organ  (Oct.  6,  1864),  the 
following  concerning  the  downfall  of  the  Confederacy  of  the  Southern 
States : — 

“ Do  you  ask  for  an  explanation  of  these  rapidly  occurring  disasters 
in  a portion  of  the  State  where  the  Confederates,  until  the  19th  nit., 
never  suffered  defeat  P Here  is  the  key  to  our  reverses.  Officers 
of  high  position,  yes,  of  very  high  position,  have,  to  use  an  honest 
English  word,  been  drunk — too  drunk  to  command  themselves,  much 
less  an  army,  a division,  a brigade,  or  a regiment.  And  when  officers 
in  high  command  are  in  the  habit  of  drinking  to  excess,  we  may  be 
sure  their  pernicious  example  will  be  followed  by  those  in  lower 
grades.  The  cavalry  forces  that  had  been  operating  in  the  valley 
were  already  demoralized,  and  since  their  last  visit  to  Maryland  they 
have  been  utterly  worthless.” 

f In  last  year’s  session  of  Parliament  (1882),  it  was  stated,  in 
defence  of  the  soldiers’  beer-drinking,  that  the  beer  consumed  by 
them  was  not  the  vile  stuff  ordinarily  sold;  but  this  argument  is 
simply  saying  that  there  is  a difference  in  the  kinds  and  degrees  of 
harmfulness  in  a specified  compound,  since  all  alcohols  in  whatever 
quantity  or  quality  have  been  proven  to  be  poisonous. 

In  a remarkable  symposium  contributed  by  several  Belgian 
military  surgeons  to  the  Belgian  Army  Journal  (1S79),  one  of  the 
writers  urges  earnestly  that  the  drink-evil  in  the  army  should  be 
combated  by  forbidding  the  sale  of  brandy  and  other  spirits  in  the 
canteens  of  the  barracks.  A vast  quantity  of  spirits  is,  it  is  stated, 
sold  in  these  establishments,  and  it  is  in  them  that  the  young  recruit 
begins  to  drink  and  acquires  a taste  for  liquor,  with  the  sanction,  as 
it  were,  of  the  military  authorities,  who  supply  the  premises  where 
the  drinking  goes  on.  And  not  only  does  the  soldier  in  every  interval 
between  drills  repair  to  the  canteen  to  refresh  himself  with  a “ nip,” 
but  brandy  is  bought  and  carried  into  the  men’s  rooms,  where  non- 
commissioned officers  and  men  carouse  together,  to  the  great  prejudice 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


339 


general  condition  of  some  troops  that  had  just  passed 
through  Canterbury  en  route  to  India,  the  Echo  (January 
4,  1884)  said,  “ The  march  through  the  town  to  the  station 
the  next  moiming  was  most  disgraceful.  The  men  were 
too  drunk  to  keep  ranks,  and  dropped  portions  of  their 
equipment  as  they  staggered  along.  At  the  station  they 
were  quite  mutinous,  refusing  to  obey  orders ; and  one,  in 
North-country  brogue,  was  heard  to  say  he  would  shoot 
his  captain  when  he  reached  India.” 

Some  of  the  principal  English  officers,  in  both  army 
and  navy,  inveigh  frequently  against  drinking  among  the 
troops.  In  a letter  to  John  Bayley,  Esq.,  President  of  the 
Grantham  Temperance  Association,  April  21,  1881,  Sir 
Garnet,  now  Lord  Wolseley,  wrote  : — • 

“ The  cause  of  temperance  is  the  cause  of  social  ad- 
vancement. Temperance  means  less  crime,  and  more 
thrift  and  more  of  comfort  and  prosperity  for  the  people. 

“ Nearly  all  the  crime  in  our  army  can  be  traced  to 
intoxication,  and  I have  always  found  that  when  with  any 
army  or  body  of  troops  in  the  field  there  was  no  issue  of 
spirits,  and  where  their  use  was  prohibited,  the  health  as 
well  as  the  conduct  of  the  men  were  all  that  could  be 
wished  for.” 

And  to  a Good  Templar  meeting,  held  in  Morley  Hall, 
Hackney,  in  November  of  the  same  year,  he  wrote  : — * 

“ About  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  crime  in  our  army  is 
owing  to  drunkenness,  and  when  our  men  are  removed 
from  the  temptation  of  intoxicating  liquor,  crime  is  prac- 
tically unknown  amongst  them.  During  the  operations  I 
conducted  in  South  Africa  in  1879,  my  own  personal  escort 
was  composed  almost  exclusively  of  teetotalers.  They  had 
very  hard  work  to  do,  but  grumbling  was  never  heard  from 
them,  and  a better  behaved  set  of  men  I was  never  assisted 
with — a fact  which  I attributed  to  their  being  almost  all 
total  abstainers.” 

In  his  speech  to  the  troops  at  Chatham,!"  Cardinal 
Manning  narrates  of  Sir  Charles  Napier,  that — • 


The  Echo  on 
drunkenness 
in  the  army. 


Lord 
Wolseley 
on  the  army 
and  drink. 


Cardinal 
Manning  on 
the  same. 


of  discipline.  If  this  sale  of  spirits  were  forbidden,  better  coffee 
would,  it  is  argued,  be  provided  in  the  canteens,  and  the  soldier  would 
drink  this  instead  of  brandy,  to  the  great  benefit  of  his  health. 

* See  Alliance  News,  November  5,  1881. 
t See  The  Universe,  July  22,  1882. 


340 


THE  FOUNDATION"  OF  DEATH. 


Major- 
General  Sir 
Evelyn 
Wood,  in 
confirmation 
of  Cardinal 
Manning’s 
statement. 


“When  lie  was  ‘tumbled  over,  with  forty  others,  by 
the  sunstroke,’  and  being  himself  the  only  one  who  did  not 
succumb,  he  attributed  his  escape  from  death  to  the  fact  of 
his  being  a total  abstainer,  saying,  ‘ the  sun  found  no  ally 
in  my  brains.’  ” 

Major-General  Sir  Evelyn  Wood,  in  addressing  the 
same  meeting,  is  reported  * as  saying  : — 

“ That  his  experience  fully  bore  out  what  his  Eminence 
had  said.  Some  of  the  soldiers  present  would  doubtless 
say,  ‘ Oh,  it’s  all  very  well  for  the  Cardinal  to  talk  about 
total  abstinence  ; but  it  won’t  do  for  us.  We  cannot  act 
up  to  it ! ’ Well,  he  could  assure  them  it  was  a matter  of 
regret  to  him  that,  in  his  early  career,  in  the  navy  and  the 
Naval  Brigade,  he  had  not  the  advantages  of  being  a total 
abstainer.  . . . Some  four  years  ago,  Colonel  Hope,  of  the 
12th,  had  told  him  that  if  he  had  to  go  through  his  thirty 
years’  service  again  he  would  become  a teetotaler. 
Throughout  the  Crimea  those  were  the  best  and  most 
healthy  soldiers  and  sailors  who  did  not  touch  intoxicating 
drink.  He  (Sir  Evelyn  Wood)  also  served  three  years  in 
India,  including  the  last  fifteen  months  of  the  mutinv,  and 
he  could  positively  state  those  who  drank  nothing  were  the 
best  men.  He  Avent  to  the  Gold  Coast,  and  during  the 
hundred  and  fifty  days  they  were  in  one  place  he  put  in  a 
hundi-ed  and  forty-six  days’  service,  only  to  find  himself 
beaten  by  the  attendance  of  a man  who  was  a teetotaler. 
During  the  last  three  years  he  had  rounded  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  four  times,  and  he  found  that  the  stokers  who 
had  to  work  in  the  heated  stokeholes  of  the  large  ocean 
steamers  never  drank  anything  but  barley  water  when  in 
the  tropics.  Throughout  the  Zulu  campaign  he  had  two 
regiments  under  him,  one  young,  and  the  other  old.  There 
was  little  or  nothing  to  choose  between  them  for  good 
conduct  or  discipline,  because  they  were  unable  to  get  any- 
thing to  drink.  They  were  the  30th  and  the  90th  Light 
Infantry,  and  they  stood  at  the  head  of  the  list  of  the 
British  army  for  good  conduct.  He  had  beforehand  taken 
particular  care  there  should  be  no  liquor  in  the  place,  as 
he  feared  any  signs  of  drinking  might  lead  to  a disaster 
before  the  enemy.” 

§ .82.  A necessary  step  toward  the  solution  of  the  liquor 
* See  The  Universe,  July  22,  1S82. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


341 


question,  it  seems  to  me,  is  that  all  points  which  make  it  a 
party  question  should  be  removed. 

As  a result  of  political  party  agitation  on  this  question, 
we  find  the  whole  machinery  of  the  wealth,  intelligence, 
and  political  influence  interested  in  the  defence  of  the 
liquor  trade,  engaged  in  forming  a third  party  strong 
enough  to  hold  the  balance  of  power  in  the  House  of 
Commons.  They  have,  happily,  not  yet  succeeded. 

It  is  still  fresh  in  memory  how  the  liquor-dealers  in  the 
last  election  strained  every  point  to  secure  the  election  of 
only  such  candidates  as  were  in  favour  of  their  retaining 
their  present  privileges.  The  Alliance  News  (January  4, 
1879)  cites  a conspicuous  example.  “ At  the  election  of  a 
member  for  Bristol,”  it  says,  “Mr.  R.  C.  Smart,  Treasurer 
of  the  Licensed  Victuallers’  Association,  said,  ‘Politics 
mean  self-interest,’  and  Mr.  Collins  ‘ hoped  and  trusted 
they  would  all  act  according  to  their  consciences  for  the 
benefit  of  the  trade.’  ” 

And  Canon  Ellison,*  in  his  admirable  letter  to  Earl 
Stanhope,  on  The  Church  of  England  Temperance  Society  in 
the  Recent  Election  (1880),  drew  further  attention  to  this 
point : — “ The  Licensed  Victuallers,”  he  says,  “ for  the 
first  time,  I believe,  in  our  history,  publicly,  formally,  as  a 
body  with  interests  of  their  own  separate  from  those  of  the 
whole  community,  had  drawn  up  their  test  for  Parliamen- 
tary candidates,  upon  the  acceptance  of  which  their 
support,  as  a united  body,  was  to  depend.  At  a meeting 
of  the  Licensed  Victuallers’  Protection  Society  of  London, 
Mr.  J.  F.  Deacon,  the  chairman  of  the  society,  who  presided 
on  the  occasion,  stated  that  very  complete  arrangements  had 
been  made  for  dealing  with  candidates  at  the  General  Election. 
To  every  gentleman  who  sought  their  suffrages  four  test  ques- 
tions ivould  be  submitted , and  the  ivay  in  which  those  questions 
were  answered  ivould  decide  their  action  towards  the  candidate. 
The  questions  are  as  follows : — 

“ 1.  Will  you,  if  returned  to  Parliament,  oppose  every 
Bill  or  measure  which  aims  at  transferring  the  licensing 
powers  from  the  present  authorities  (the  Justices  of  the 
Peace)  to  periodically  elected  local  boards  or  bodies, 
municipal,  parochial,  or  the  like? 

“ 2.  Will  you  support  and  advocate  the  principle  that 

# Chairman  of  the  Church  of  England  Temperance  Society. 


Mischiefs 
that  have 
resulted  from 
prematurely 
driving  the 
liquor- 
dealers  into 
self-defence 
unions, by  in- 
discriminate 
political 
agitation  for 
prohibition. 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


for  any  depreciation  in  the  value  of  the  property  of  licensed 
victuallers,  resulting  from  future  legislation,  they  should 
be  entitled  to  fair  and  full  pecuniary  compensation  P 

“ 3.  Will  you  oppose  any  measure  having  for  its  objects 
the  curtailment  of,  or  interference  with,  the  present  hours 
of  opening  and  closing  public-houses,  either  on  Sundays  or 
on  other  days  of  the  week  ? 

“ 4.  Will  you  give  your  support  to  any  measure  having 
for  its  object  the  placing-  of  all  ‘ off  ’ licenses  under  the  same 
authority  and  regulation  as  other  licenses  ? ” 

And  the  state  of  affairs  brought  about  by  the  prohibi- 
tory agitation  in  the  United  States  is  shown  in  the  Annual 
Report  of  the  Brewers’  Congress,  held  at  Washington,  May, 
1882.  The  following  is  a summary  of  it  as  published  in 
the  supplement  of  the  National  Temperance  Advocate,  of 
New  Yoi'k,  June,  1883  : — 

“ The  twenty-second  annual  convention  of  the  United 
States  Brewers’  Association  -was  held  in  Washington,  D.C., 
May  11  and  12, 1882.  A Washington  brewer,  Mr.  Heurich, 
representing  the  brewers  of  the  national  capital,  called  the 
convention  to  order  and  made  an  address  of  welcome,  in 
which  he  congratulated  the  brewers  upon  their  having 
come  to  the  capital  when  the  United  States  Congress  was 
in  session,  with  an  opportunity  to  meet  and  greet  their 
senators  and  representatives,  and  the  officers  of  the  govern- 
ment with  whom  they  have,  as  brewers,  business  contact ; 
concluding  with  an  expression  of  the  hope  that  their 
coming  might  be  made  ‘ instrumental  in  clearing  the  darlc 
clouds  which,  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  threaten  our 
time-honoured  business.’ 

“ The  president  of  the  Association,  Mr.  H.  B.  Schar- 
mann,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  then  delivered  his  annual  address, 
in  which  he  congratulated  the  brewers  that  in  this  country 
‘ the  consumption  of  beer  has  gone  up  during  eighteen 
years  679  per  cent.’ 

“He  gave  the  number  of  breweries  at  2,474;  stating 
that  30,000  persons  are  employed  in  the  beer  business,  and 
that  it  has  a capital  of  152,524,720  dollars  invested  in  it. 
There  were  8,536  retail,  and  2,034  wholesale  dealers  in 
malt  liquoi’S  during  the  special-tax  year  ended  Api'il  30, 
1881. 

“ There  were  reports  submitted  from  the  ‘ Agitation 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


343 


Committee,’  the  ‘ Publication  Committee,’  by  the  attorney, 
Mr.  Schade,  etc.  The  Agitation  Committee  reiterate  their 
claim  for  beer  as  a ‘ temperance  ’ beverage. 

“ The  Publication  Committee  report  that  they  have 
printed  and  distributed  nearly  115,000  pamphlets  and 
broadsides,  and  that  these  pamphlets  are  electrotyped, 
and,  ‘ after  a certain  number  of  the  pamphlets  have  been 
placed  where  most  needed  at  the  expense  of  the  fund, 
additional  copies,  where  ordered,  are  furnished  at  the 
actual  cost  of  the  paper  and  press-work.’ 

“ The  report  of  the  attorney,  Mr.  Schade,  recounts 
among  other  things  his  successful  opposition  in  Congress 
to  the  Commission  of  Inquiry  bill,  and  to  the  measures  for 
the  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  and  the  Territories. 

“ In  response  to  the  petitions  from  the  brewers  of  Iowa, 
Michigan,  and  Indiana  for  financial  aid  to  help  defeat  pro- 
hibition in  those  States,  2,000  dollars  were  appropriated  to 
Michigan,  3,000  dollars  to  Iowa,  5,000  dollars  to  Indiana, 
and  500  dollars  to  Kansas.  Much  larger  sums  are  under- 
stood to  have  been  contributed  through  other  channels.” 

As  long  as  the  masses  have  not  become  intellectually 
convinced  that  the  harm  done  by  the  liquor  traffic  is  greater 
than  the  good  claimed  for  it,  sucli  as  the  multifarious 
employment  of  many,  and  the  constant  and  large  revenue 
it  returns,*  so  long  will  any  attempt  to  enforce  prohibi- 
tion | fail,  and  in  their  failure  promote  the  traffic.  Every 

# The  terrible  cost  of  these  very  advantages,  in  morals,  health, 
and  finance  have  already  been  pointed  out  in  the  chapter  on  Social 
R&sults.  The  Echo  (February  7, 1884)  states  that  in  his  message  to  the 
Ohio  State  Legislature,  Governor  Forster  “ declares  that  in  twelve 
months  four  thousand  five  hundred  liquor  saloons  had  gone  out  of 
existence,  and  that  two  million  dollars  had  been  added  to  the 
revenue.” 

f England  and  Ireland  have  already  witnessed  the  beneficial 
results  of  a partially  effected  prohibition. 

In  writing  on  The  Police  of  the  Metropolis  in  1800,  Mr.  Colquhoun 
describes  the  situation  in  London  during  the  embargo  on  the  dis. 
tilleries,  1796-97,  when  bread  and  other  foods  and  necessaries  were 
greatly  increased  in  cost  by  the  scarcity  of  grain ; yet  the  poor  lived 
better,  were  more  comfortable,  and  paid  their  rent  with  less  difficulty 
than  for  many  years  previously,  and  there  was  both  less  brawling 
and  less  pawning.  “This,”  says  Mr.  Colquhoun,  “can  only  be  ac- 


The  earliest 
moment 
when  pro- 
hibition can 
become  a 
practical  and 
beneficent 
fact. 


344 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  hopeful 
omen  of  the 
Queen's  last 
speech. 


sincere  friend  of  the  temperance  reform  cries  out  with  the 
eloquent  Canon  Farrar:  “ How  long  do  you  mean  this  to 
continue  ? How  long  are  our  working  classes  to  be  hemmed 
in  with  glaring  temptations,  and  their  dwellings  to  be 
ringed  by  public-houses  on  all  sides  as  with  a cordon  of 
fire  ? How  long  is  the  reeling  army  of  our  drunkards  to 
be  recruited  by  those  who  are  now  our  innocent  sons  and 
daughters  ? ” * 

The  writings  of  such  men  as  Dr.  F.  R.  Lees,  in  Eng- 
land ; ex-Bailie  D.  Lewis,  in  Scotland ; Judge  Pitman,  in 
America,  and  many  others,  have  taken  the  question  of  the 
justice,  wisdom,  and  legality  of  prohibition  theoretically 
quite  out  of  the  list  of  disputable  issues  : it  is  only  around 
the  question  of  its  best  practicable  application  that  doubt 
can  still  be  entertained. 

The  extension  of  suffrage,  “ with  the  enlargements  of 
the  powers  of  ratepayers  through  the  representative  system, 
including  among  them  the  regulation  of  the  traffic  in 
intoxicating  liquors,”  promised  in  the  Queen’s  speech, 
opening  Parliament  (1884),  is  a hopeful  omen  that  we 
are  at  last  to  know  -what  the  people  really  think  and 
want,  f 

counted  for  by  their  being  denied  the  indulgence  of  gin,  which  had 
become  in  a great  measure  inaccessible  from  its  very  high  price.” 
And  in  Ireland  a similar  temporary  prohibition  measure  had  like  con- 
sequences, in  allusion  to  which  the  writer  of  An  Inquiry  into  the 
Influence  of  Ardent  Spirits  in  Ireland  (1830)  states,  “ The  population 
of  Ireland  was  enabled  to  consume  a greater  quantity  of  articles  of 
luxury  and  comfort  than  in  years  of  absolute  plenty.”  And  yet,  the 
popular  sympathy  not  being  enlisted,  these  measures  with  all  their 
benefits  could  only  be  maintained  for  a short  period,  and  when  the 
reaction  came,  drinking  and  crime  became  more  prevalent  than 
before. 

* Sermon  in  "Westminster  Abbey  (November  19,  1883),  on  the 
occasion  of  the  twenty-first  anniversary  of  the  Church  of  England 
Temperance  Society. 

t “ The  Grand  Jury  cannot  withhold  from  the  court  the  amaze- 
ment and  horror  which  they  have  felt  during  their  investigations,  at 
the  systematic  countenance  of  and  encouragement  to  vicious  conduct, 
by  the  facilities  afforded  by  the  numberless  places  of  resort  for 
dunking  and  profligacy,  thereby  providing  nurseries  for  crime  and 
destitution ; and  they  earnestly  hope  that  some  effectual  steps  may 
be  taken,  either  by  the  withholding  of  licenses  or  curtailing  the  hours 
for  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  and  thus  grapple  with  a system 
of  demoralization  as  antagonistic  to  the  interests  of  religion,  and  as 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


345 


§ 83.  But  pending  the  general  and  full  development  of 
popular  conviction  and  will,  np  to  the  point  of  an  irresistible 
demand  that  the  traffic  shall  cease,  there  are  various 
valuable  initiation  legislative  measures  in  that  direction, 
which  might  be  taken. 

First  in  point  of  time  is  Local  Option ; a measure 
almost  wholly  due  to  the  untiring  efforts  and  labours  of 
thirty  active  years  by  the  United  Kingdom  Alliance,  and 
particularly  to  its  brilliant  and  wise  presidents,  the  late 
Sir  Walter  Trevelyan,  and  the  present  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson, 
whose  motion  reads  thus  : “ That  the  best  interests  of  the 
nation  urgently  require  some  efficient  measure  of  legisla- 
tion, by  which,  in  accordance  with  the  resolution  already 
passed  and  re-affirmed  by  this  Rouse,  a legal  power  of 
restraining  the  issue  or  renewal  of  licenses  for  the  sale 
of  intoxicating  liquors  may  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
persons  most  deeply  interested  and  affected,  namely,  the 
inhabitants  themselves,”  and  whose  work  for  securing  this 
reform  during  the  years  1879  and  1880  fully  equalled  the 
efforts  of  Mr.  Gladstone  to  overthrow  the  Beaconsfield 
government,  both  in  energy,  conclusiveness,  and  eloquence. 
That  his  work  promises  to  meet  with  deserved  success  is 
shown  in  the  victories  he  has  already  gained. 

In  1880,  before  the  election,  Mr.  Gladstone  went  out 
of  his  way  to  declare  that  he  was  not  in  favour  of  local 
option ; but  when  the  measure  was  brought  into  the 
House,  Mr.  Gladstone  said : “ I earnestly  hope  that  at 
some  not  very  distant  period  it  may  be  found  practicable 
to  deal  with  the  licensing  laws,  and  in  dealing  with  the 
licensing  laws  to  include  the  reasonable  and  just  measui'e 
for  which  my  honourable  friend  (Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson) 
pleads.” 

In  three  successive  sessions  of  the  present  parliament 
the  local  option  resolution  has  been  passed  by  steadily 
largely  increasing  majorities  ; on  the  27th  of  April  last  it 
was  passed  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  a majority  of  87. 

Concerning  this  result,  the  Times  of  the  next  morning 
(April  28,  1883)  said : “ Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson  must  be 
satisfied  for  the  present  with  the  reception  he  has  gained 

injurious  to  the  social  well-being  of  all  classes  of  the  community  as 
it  is  degrading  to  us  as  an  enlightened  nation.” — Presentment  of  the 
Grand  Jury  at  the  Central  Criminal  Court  (London,  November,  1862). 


Various 
preparatory 
measures  for 
general  pro- 
hibition. 


Local  option. 


Sir  Wilfrid 

Lawson’s 

scheme. 


346 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  Local 
Option  Reso- 
lution of 
the  great 
temperance 
meeting  in 
Edinburgh, 
March  3, 
1884. 


The  attitude 
of  the 

Government 
toward  it. 


for  his  resolution  in  favour  of  Local  Option.  The  announce- 
ment of  Sir  William  Harcourt  that  the  Government  accepts 
the  principle  of  the  resolution  and  will  take  the  respon- 
sibility of  giving  effect  to  it,  has  put  the  whole  question 
on  an  entirely  new  level.  The  thing,  it  is  now  certain, 
will  be  done  ; Local  Option  in  some  form  or  other  wdll  be 
granted  ; the  time  and  the  manner  alone  remain  to  be 
determined.” 

At  the  great  temperance  meeting  at  Edinburgh,  March. 
3,  1884,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Adamson,  in  supporting  the  resolution 
(in  favour  of  the  Local  Option  resolution) — “ That,  whilst 
resolved  to  maintain  all  existing  legal  restrictions  on  the 
sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  and  whilst  recognizing  that 
the  House  of  Commons  has  affirmed  that  the  ratepayers 
should  possess  ‘ a legal  power  of  restraining  the  issue  and 
renewal  of  licences,’  this  convention  hereby  declares  that 
no  legislative  measure  on  this  subject  will  be  satisfactory 
which  does  not  confer  upon  the  ratepayers  in  parishes, 
burghs,  and  other  districts  the  full  legal  power  of  con- 
trolling the  drink  traffic,  and  also  of  prohibiting  it,  where 
a majority  ‘shall  think  meet  and  convenient’  that  the 
traffic  should  not  exist  ” — added  that  “ he  wanted  to  say 
that  modern  legislation  was  going  straight  in  the  direction 
of  trusting  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  social,  moral,  and 
intellectual  well-being  of  the  people  to  the  people  them- 
selves ; and  he  needed  not  to  tell  that  great  meeting  that  on 
the  whole  they  made  a proper  use  of  what  they  had  got.  At 
present  they  elected  their  municipal  authorities,  the  educa- 
tion boards,  the  parochial  boards,  and  they  elected  their 
ministers  of  religion.  . . . Why,  then,  should  they  withhold 
from  the  common  people  the  right  to  deal  with  the  curse  of 
intemperance  ? It  was  said  those  houses  were  put  down 
for  the  convenience  of  the  people  ; not  for  the  convenience 
of  the  men  who  hold  the  licences,  but  for  the  benefit  of 
the  community  at  large.  He  concluded  by  saying  they 
would  never  l’est  satisfied  till  the  people  were  entrusted 
with  the  power  to  say  whether  public-houses  should  be  set 
down  in  their  midst.” 


On  May  7th  (1884)  a large  deputation  from  this  con- 
vention waited  upon  Sir  William  Harcourt,  who  said  to 
them,  “ The  views  of  the  Government  have  been  distinctly 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


347 


stated  as  being  in  favour  of  tbe  ratepayers  having  the 
power  of  determining  in  each  locality  what  they  desire 
with  reference  to  the  drink  traffic.  I stated  that  last  year 
in  my  speech  on  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson’s  local  option  resolu- 
tion. I have  nothing  now  to  add  to  it,  and  nothing  to 
change.  I adhere  entirely  without  modification  to  what 
I then  stated  on  behalf  of  the  Government.  We  desire 
that  the  local  authority  should  have  complete  control  over 
the  drink  traffic ; that  the  locality  should  determine  what 
houses  should  be  licensed;  whether  any,  or  none  at  all,  or 
how  many;  when  they  should  be  opened  or  closed,  etc.; 
in  point  of  fact,  that  the  locality  should  have  complete  and 
absolute  authority  to  treat  this  as  a local  question,  and  not 
one  as  it  has  hitherto  been  regulated  in  every  place  by  a 
fixed  statute,  which  seems  to  me  not  appropriate  to  a 
question  of  this  kind.  We  regard  it  as  a question  affecting 
the  general  welfare  of  a particular  community  like  any- 
thing affecting  its  health,  or  morals,  or  those  other 
matters  which  are  now  confided  to  its  local  authority. 

. . . Nobody  is  more  anxious  than  I am,  or  more  willing, 
to  go  far  in  the  direction  of  restraining  the  evils  of  the 
drink  traffic — as  far  as  possible.” 

In  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson’s  resolution  there  is  no  mention 
of  the  much-agitated  question  of  compensation  * to  the 
publicans,  j" 

No  doubt  this  point  is  a most  delicate  one,  and  difficult 
of  solution ; but  it  must  be  solved  in  some  way.  Many 
arguments  tell  against  material  compensation,  but  there 
are  arguments  of  weight  both  as  to  expediency,  honesty, 
and  justice,  which  indicate  that  the  publicans  should  receive 
some  consideration  in  this  matter.  Their  privileges  have 
been  recognized  for  hundreds  of  years,  during  at  least  the 
earlier  part  of  which  time  it  was  not  known  that  any  evil 

* See  Appendix  on  compensation. 

t “It  is  only  with  the  growth  of  democracy  that  here  also  we 
are  slowly  approaching  a time  when  the  rights  of  property  will  he 
frankly  subordinated  to  the  rights  of  humanity  and  the  good  of  the 
body  politic.  At  present  such  doctrine  is  ‘ unsound,’  for  in  a society 
still  essentially  plutocratic  we  recognize — though  it  is  not  considered 
seemly  so  to  express  it — that  a man  may  have  a vested  interest  in 
poisoning  his  neighbours,  and  must  not  be  prevented  from  doing  so 
except  upon  adequate  compensation.” — Pall  Mall  Gazette,  April  10, 
1884. 


The  question 
of  compen- 
sation to  the 
publicans. 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


348 


inhered  in  drink  itself,  but  only  in  its  immoderate  use. 
Through  ignorance,  the  liquor  trade  occupied  a moral 
plane  from  which  science  has  since  overthrown  it. 

The  pubii-  The  fact  that  this  ignorance  is  removed,  that  alcohol  is 
the  question.  ^ast  known  to  be  rank  poison,  though  it  changes  vitally 
and  fatally  the  moral  position  of  those  who  sell  it  as  a 
common  beverage,  does  not  therefore  absolve  society  from 
all  duty  of  consideration  for  the  liquor- dealers ; nor  is  it 
likely  to  prevent  liquor-dealers — with  whom  long  habitude 
has  also  done  its  work,  and  in  the  continuance  of  whose 
“time-honoured  privileges,”  as  they  not  untruly  call  them, 
the  homes  and  livelihood  of  hundreds  and  thousands  of 
persons  are  bound  up — from  mustering  all  their  forces  to 
avert  the  legal  ruin  which  abrupt  or  rapid  prohibition,  with- 
out some  reasonable  pecuniary  or  other  compensation,  would 
be  to  them.  It  may  be  that  the  character  of  a trade  is  not 
always  necessarily  germane  to  the  question  of  its  right  to 
existence,  especially  if  its  very  foundation  was  laid  in  legal 
recognition  and  State  protection.  If  in  ignorance  of  the 
fact  and  effects  of  contagion,  we  bad  legalized  a business 
in  which  men  were  authorized  and  licensed  to  vend  disease- 
infected  garments,  we  could  not,  later  on — when  we  had 
become  wiser — with  justice,  summarily  deprive  them  of 
the  livelihood  grounded  in  their  and  our  ignorance,  without 
paying  due  consideration  to  the  conditions  and  necessities 
W'hich  the  change  would  involve  for  them. 

The  public’s  On  the  other  hand,  it  can  be  urged  that  if  liquor- 
questiouhe  dealers  are  entitled  to  compensation  for  loss  of  livelihood, 

why  not  all  those  who  are  necessarily  affected  by  the  down- 
fall of  the  liquor  trade  ? Why  not  the  pawnbrokers, 
money-lender’s,  gamblers,  police,  physicians,  lawyers,  jailors, 
and  hangmen  ? 

Again,  it  is  a truth  that  liquor-dealers  as  a body 
mostly  deal  in  adulterated  or  even  wholly  spurious  wares,* 

* A point  illustrated — if  illustration  is  needed — by  the  way  in 
which  some  evidently  honest  liquor-dealers  reproach  their  adulterat- 
ing brethren;  possibly  in  some  instances  from  really  disinterested 
motives,  but  in  most  cases  undoubtedly  to  check  the  spread  of  adulte- 
ration, because  in  the  proportion  of  its  spread  it  puts  the  burden  of 
State  duties  on  the  few  who  do  not  adulterate.  Liquor-dealers  do  not 
pay  license  taxes  for  the  use  of  water,  therefore  in  the  measure  that 
they  adulterate  with  water  do  they  sell  less  liquor,  and  in  the  measure 
that  they  sell  less  liquor  do  they  have  less  to  pay  to  the  State;  and 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


349 


and  therefore  forfeit,  by  fraud,  their  claims  to  compensa- 
tion. And  still  State  and  society,  knowing  this  as  they 
have  known  and  do  know  it,  and  not  having  taken  effective 
measures  to  prevent  and  punish  adulteration,  have  been 
almost  the  same  as  silent  partners  in  the  transaction,  and 
have  thereby  lost  much  of  that  moral  force  which  would 
otherwise  have  entitled  them  to  act  more  strictly  with  the 
liquor-dealers  in  case  of  prohibition.* 

Personally,  I lean  in  the  direction  of  those  who  think 
publicans  are  entitled  not  exactly  to  compensation,  but 
certainly  to  consideration. 

A hint  to  licensed  victuallers  of  a way  by  which  they 
might  gradually  make  themselves  and  their  houses  ready 
for  prohibition,  and  at  the  same  time  increase  their  claims 
to  consideration  when  such  change  should  arrive,  was 
thrown  out  by  the  Lord  Mayor  of  York,  at  the  annual 
dinner  of  the  York  Licensed  Victuallers’  Association, 
February  8,  1881.  The  Lord  Mayor  said  that  there  was 
now  a greater  use  of  non-alcoholic  drinks,  and  he  thought 
it  would  be  wise  on  the  part  of  those  who  held  licences  to 
encourage  their  sale.  It  seemed  to  him  that  if  the  licensed 
victuallers  could  put  themselves  more  in  harmony  with  the 
feeling  in  favour  of  the  increased  sobriety  and  for  the  con- 
sumption of  non-alcoholic  drinks,  they  would  further  their 
own  interests  in  various  ways,  besides  promoting  public 
sobriety. 

Some  licensed  victuallers  are  acting  upon  this  advice, 
and  furnish  tea  and  coffee  besides  alcoholic  drinks, f and 

thus  many  a liquor-dealer  with  a roaring  trade  pays  less  to  the  State 
than  some  who  have  a comparatively  small  custom  ; hence  the  cry  of 
the  non-adulterating  liquor-dealers  against  the  dishonest  practice  of 
adulteration. 

* Alliance  News,  February  19,  18S1. 

f “Now,  if  this  Church  of  England  Temperance  Society  would 
bring  about  a revolution  among  the  publicans  and  licensed  victuallers 
of  this  country,  and  if  my  colleagues  and  my  friends  (I  am  not 
ashamed  to  call  them  friends)  would  allow  one  of  their  own  set  to 
advise  them  to  look  to  their  own  gains  and  to  turn  their  houses — 
those  committee-rooms  that  they  used  to  have,  and  which  will  be  no 
longer  of  use  to  them  if  this  Bill  passes  in  the  House  of  Commons 
for  prohibiting  the  use  of  committee-rooms  in  public-houses — instead 
of  having  those  committee-rooms  let  once  in  every  seven  years  ; why 
not  have  wholesome  refreshments  where  the  best  of  everything  can 
be  got  ? and  don’t  you  think  that  the  publicans  and  great  brewers  of 


A hint  to 
licensed 
victuallers 
how  to  pre- 
pare them- 
selves and 
their  houses 
for  the 
inevitable. 


350 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Scheme  for 
reconciling 
the  conflict- 
ing interests 
involved  in 
prohibition 
with  due 
regard  to 
health, 
morality,  and 
revenue. 


it  seems  fully  probable  that  the  liquor- dealers  might 
gradually  become  almost  wholly  dealers  in  non-alcoholic 
drinks. 

In  this  direction  also  the  State  might  greatly  assist  to 
promote  the  welfare  of  the  people,  by  a scheme  having  due 
regard  to  all  three  of  the  chief  considerations — the  health 
and  morality  of  the  population,  the  necessities  of  the 
exchequer,  and  the  future  of  the  publican. 

Many  persons,  who,  convinced  of  the  evil  of  drink  and 
desiring  to  abstain,  have  yet  lacked  strength  to  at  once 
break  off  their  drinking  habits,  have  tried  and  found  suc- 
cessful the  simple  plan  of  daily  slightly  diluting  their 
regular  portion  of  whiskey,  wine,  or  beer  with  water,  until 
the  rejection  of  a drink,  thus  gradually  made  insipid  and 
uninviting,  for  pure  water,  becomes  easy  and  at  last  natural. 

Now,  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  State,  the  people  consent- 


this  country  having  the  means  of  providing  good  food  and  good  tea 
and  coffee  at  more  moderate  rates  than  those  who  have  got  to  pay 
rent  for  their  houses,  do  not  you  think  their  profits  would  be  larger  ? 
Coffee  taverns,  I think,  are  admirable  institutions  with  the  exception 
that  they  do  not  sell  coffee.  (Hear,  hear.)  Anything  more  abomin- 
able or  more  filthy  than  what  is  supposed  to  be  sold  for  2d.  a cup  in 
coffee-palaces  is  not  to  be  imagined,  and  at  the  very  commencement 
of  this  splendid  movement  already  we  must  bring  in  a Reform  Bill.” 
— Sir  P.  C.  Owen’s  speech,  Exeter  Hall,  April  25,  18S3,  as  reported 
in  Church  of  England  Temperance  Chronicle,  Hay  5,  1883. 

At  a meeting  of  the  Exeter  Conservative  Association,  held  in 
Exeter  on  the  26th  of  February,  1884,  Hr.  J.  P.  Heath  read  an 
address  on  the  Temperance  Question,  in  which  he  said:  — 

“ It  must  not  be  thought  that  licensed  victuallers  liked  to  see 
drunkards  on  their  premises,  for  such  men  were  the  greatest 
nuisances  they  had  to  contend  with,  as  they  drove  other  customers 
away,  and  placed  the  landlord  under  a penalty  for  supplying  them 
with  liquor  if  they  were  in  a state  of  intoxication,  and  he  might 
forfeit  his  licence  thereby.  . . . Neither  must  it  be  thought  that  inn- 
keepers derived  greater  advantages  from  selling  alcoholic  than  non- 
alcoholic beverages,  for  he  knew  that  more  profit  was  made  over  the 
sale  of  a bottle  of  soda-water  than  a glass  of  grog,  and  over  the  sale 
of  ginger  beer  than  brewers’  beer  made  from  malt  and  hops.  Brewers 
were  finding  out  that,  and  were  turning  their  attention  in  many 
instances  to  the  manufacture  of  aerated  waters,  and  through  the 
spread  of  temperance  principles  by  persuasion  and  conversion  any 
licensed  victualler  would  admit  that  his  sale  of  temperance  drinks 
had  largely  increased  of  late  years,  and  that  he  was  equally  willing 
to  provide  accommodation  for  teetotalers  who  wished  to  use  his 
premises  for  the  transaction  of  their  business  as  for  non.abstainers.” 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


351 


iug,  to  try  a similar  experiment  of  drink-cure  for  the 
nation,  by  adopting  an  annually  rising  scale  of  license 
duties,  the  price  per  glass  of  every  kind  of  alcoholic  drink 
being  definitely  and  permanently  fixed  by  law  ; the  use  of 
all  ingredients  in  drink  save  alcohol  and  water  being 
punished  absolutely  with  imprisonment  and  loss  of  license, 
whenever  detected ; and  detection,  by  whomsoever  made, 
to  be  always  compensated  by  a fixed  premium.  Gradually 
as  the  license  duty  increased,  the  liquor-dealer  would  seek 
his  compensation  in  increased  wafer  dilution,  the  public 
would  gradually  become  accustomed  to  weaker  liquids, 
and  would  finally  reach  the  point  where  the  growing  bodily 
and  mental  health,  and  the  insipidity  of  the  drinks  would 
breed  disgust.  If,  while  this  weaning  process  was  going 
on,  the  liquor-dealers  kept  good  coffee,  tea,  cocoa,  chocolate, 
etc.,  their  trade  would  gradually  become  established  as 
that  of  licensed  victuallers  really,  instead  of  licensed 
poisoners,  and  they  could  sell  all  the  various  non-alcoholic 
drinks,  and  thus,  properly  speaking,  suffer  no  real  loss. 
Meanwhile  it  would  be  the  duty  of  the  State  to  furnish 
pure  sparkling  water  to  the  public,  and  to  the  publicans 
might  be  given  the  first  chance  of  investment  in  securing 
this  inestimable  boon. 

§ 84.  When  prohibition  becomes  law,  there  is  one  point 
which  the  temperance  advocates  should  not  lose  sight  of, 
namely,  the  exportation  of  liquor.  The  influence  England 
has  exercised  in  this  respect  on  her  colonies  and  those 
savage  nations  forced  by  her  fleets  to  trade  with  her,  has 
put  an  immense  responsibility  on  her  shoulders.* 

* “ I am  sorry  to  say  that  since  the  cession  to  the  British  Govern- 
ment the  Griquas  have  become  a debased  people,  as  much  as  before 
they  were  respected.  The  first  thing  that  the  Government  did  after 
the  cession  was  to  license  a liquor-shop  at  Griqua  Town  and  at  other 
places  within  the  territory,  and  from  that  I trace  the  debasement  of 
the  tribe.  In  order  to  show  you  the  change  that  has  taken  place  for 
the  worse,  I may  mention  that  prior  to  the  cession  I travelled  for 
fourteen  years  through  a great  part  of  the  country,  and  I never  saw 
a drunken  native.  It  was,  in  fact,  against  the  laws  of  the  country  to 
introduce  brandy  or  other  spirituous  liquors  ; but  immediately  after 
the  cession  and  the  licensing  of  drinking  the  state  of  things  un- 
fortunately changed.  At  the  time  to  which  I have  referred  the 
Griquas  had  a council  and  a court  of  justice,  in  which  a regular  record 
of  the  proceedings  was  kept ; punishments  were  awarded  for  offences 
according  to  civilized  ideas,  and  the  country  was  remarkably  free 


The  para- 
mount duty 
of  the 

Government 
regarding 
exportation 
of  liquor,  and 
particularly 
in  case  of 
internal 
prohibition. 


352 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Quoting  from  the  Gazette  of  India  (August  25, 1883),  the 
Alliance  News  of  December  8,  1883,  says,  “A  compara- 

from  crime.” — Hon.  David  Amot,  in  Manchester  Courier,  March  13, 
1879. 

“ Griqualand  was  annexed  to  the  British  Crown  in  1871,  and  with 
it  a large  tract  of  Bechuana  territory.  Up  to  that  time,  the  chiefs, 
Waterboer  and  Yanke  (the  former  Griqna  and  the  latter  Bechuana), 
had  prohibited,  as  far  as  possible,  the  sale  of  brandy  in  their  respec- 
tive territories.  So  soon  as  the  country  was  annexed,  canteens  were 
licensed  and  opened  all  over  the  country,  and  the  people,  who  had 
become  more  or  less  civilized  and  Christianized,  began  to  go  back 
again.  They  took  to  drinking,  and  began  to  lose  all  they  possessed. 
This  became  so  bad  in  Griqnaland  that,  in  1877,  the  heads  of  the 
Griqna  tribe  drew  up  a petition  in  the  Dutch  language  for  presenta- 
tion to  Her  Majesty  the  Queen,  imploring  her  to  stop  the  sale  of 
drink,  as  it  was  bringing  them  to  ruin. — ftev.  A.  J.  Unkey,  Bedford, 
August  14,  to  Wm.  Hoyle.  Appeared  in  Alliance  News,  September 
27,  1879. 

The  Friend  for  April  contains  a letter  from  the  Nonconformist  and 
Independent,  from  a missionary  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  con- 
cerning the  Bechuanas,  the  people  among  whom  Dr.  Moffat  so  long 
laboured.  The  writer,  A.  J.  Wookey,  says: — “Magistrates  were 
appointed  to  various  districts  to  represent  British  authority  amongst 
the  natives  at  a distance  from  Kimberley,  which  was  the  seat  of 
government  and  the  great  centre  of  European  population.  Gaols 
were  built  and  police  enrolled.  At  the  same  time  canteens  were 
licensed  and  opened  in  every  available  place  for  the  sale  of  Cape 
brandy.  Licensed  hawkers,  travelling  in  waggons,  carried  the  same 
pernicious  wares  to  all  the  native  villages  and  hamlets,  bringing  dis- 
turbance and  misery  wherever  they  came.  They  would  even  cross 
the  border,  and,  in  defiance  of  the  chiefs,  carry  on  the  sale  in  front 
of  their  very  doors.  And  if  a chief  attempted  to  interfere,  he  would 
be  threatened  with  the  soldiers  and  police.  One  of  the  saddest  sights 
to  be  seen  there  any  day  was  that  of  natives  riding  backwards  and 
forwards  to  these  places  on  horseback  or  oxback,  infuriated  by  drink, 
or  to  see  men  and  women  rolling  about  or  lying  hopelessly  intoxicated 
under  the  shadow  of  the  staff  bearing  aloft  the  British  flag.  This  was 
the  licensed  process  of  civilization,  under  the  patronage  of  the  British 
Government — the  brandy  shop,  the  magistrate’s  court,  and  the  gaol. 
The  effect  of  this  state  of  things,  especially  in  these  outlying  districts, 
was  appalling,  and  many  of  the  natives  became  more  debased  and 
impoverished  than  ever  they  had  been  as  heathen.  Up  to  this  time 
the  native  chiefs  had  prohibited  the  sale  of  these  drinks  in  their 
country,  well  knowing  the  evils  they  brought.  But  the  Government 
deliberately  broke  down  the  feeble  barriers,  and  flooded  the  country 
with  ruin.  At  Griqna  Town  the  chief  became  the  prey  of  the  canteen- 
keepers  and  others,  and  turned  out  a besotted  imbecile ; and  many  of 
his  people  are  very  little  better.  In  1S77  a number  of  the  chief  native 
inhabitants  of  Griqua  Town  drew  up  a petition  addressed  to  Her 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


tive  statement  of  the  import  revenue  for  the  four  months 
of  the  official  year  and  of  the  twelve  preceding  years, 
published  in  the  Gazette  of  India  of  the  25th  of  August, 
shows  how  far  the  imports  of  liquor  are  on  the  increase. 
The  average  of  the  four  months  (April  to  31st  July)  for 
the  ten  years  commencing  from  1871—72  shows  the  follow- 
ing results,  as  compared  with  the  revenue  collected  within 
three  succeeding  years  : — 


Revenue — Apiul  to  July. 


Bengal  ... 
Bombay  ... 
Madras  . . . 
Burmah  ... 


Average  10  years 

up  to  1880.  1881. 

Es.  4,16,000  4,66,000 

„ 2,30,000  3,56,000 

„ 1,57,000  1,76,000 

„ 1,56,000  2,34,000 


1882. 

4.93.000 

3.64.000 

1.79.000 

2.98.000 


1883. 

4.84.000 

3.66.000 

1.76.000 

2.83.000 


“ What  do  these  figures  indicate  ? That  in  Bengal  the 
average  increase  during  the  last  three  years,  compared 
with  that  of  the  ten  years  preceding,  is  16  per  cent.,  in 


Majesty  Queen  Victoria,  imploring  her  to  stay  the  ruin  coming  upon 
them,  and  stop  the  sale  of  drink.  This  petition  reached  the  Colonial 
Office  in  November,  1877,  but  no  notice  was  taken  of  it  further  than 
an  acknowledgment  to  the  forwarder.  Had  the  wrongs  of  these  poor 
people  been  inquired  into  at  the  time,  it  is  probable  that  much  misery 
and  bloodshed  might  have  been  averted  ; but  the  cry  of  the  helpless 
was  disregarded.” — Alliance  News,  April  17,  1880. 

The  Temperance  Record  for  July  24,  1883,  quotes  Mr.  McKay, 
the  Missionary  of  the  American  Board  from  Lake  Victoria  Nyanza, 
as  saying  : — “ Go  where  you  will — Usequha,  Usagara,  Ugogo,  Ungam- 
wezi,  Usukuma,  Ukerewe,  or  Uganda — you  will  find  every  week,  and, 
when  grain  is  plentiful,  every  night,  every  man,  woman,  and  child, 
even  to  the  sucking  infant,  reeling  with  the  effects  of  alcohol.  On 
this  account,  chiefly,  I became  a teetotaler  on  leaving  the  coast,  and 
have  continued  so  ever  since.  I believe,  also,  that  abstinence  is  the 
true  secret  of  continued  and  unimpaired  health  in  the  tropics.  Who 
wishes  to  introduce  civilization  into  Africa  P Let  a sine  qu&  non  of 
the  enterprise  be  that  its  members  be  total  abstainers.  The  West 
Coast  is  ruined  with  rum  ; it  is  killing  the  Kaffir  in  the  South  ; and 
even  at  the  East  Coast,  at  Zanzibar,  a vile  liquor  is  distilled  from  the 
sugar  canes  at  Kokotoni,  that  is  retailed  by  every  Hindu,  Banyan, 
and  Goa  merchant  in  all  the  coast  towns,  to  the  destruction  of  the 
Suaheli  race.  Matama  or  pinicum  is  the  general  malt,  but,  failing 
that,  Indian  corn  and  a small  millet  called  mewere  are  called  into 
requisition,  the  strength  being  often  increased  by  the  addition  of 
honey.  On  the  shores  of  Nyanza,  plaintains  are  plentiful,  and  from 
them  a wine  is  made  which  causes  king  and  people  to  meet  on  the 
low  level  of  intoxication.” 

2 A 


354 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Mr.  Robert 
Rae  on  this 
point. 


Cetewayo’s 
remon- 
strances with 
England. 


Bombay  56  per  cent.,  in  Madras  13,  and  in  Bnrmali  74  ! 
This  increase  is  most  significant.  It  is  full  36  per  cent,  for 
the  whole  of  British  India,  or  at  the  rate  of  12  per  cent, 
per  annum.  Is  such  a progress  in  the  revenue  derived 
from  spirits  no  cause  for  apprehension  ? ” 

In  his  speech  in  St.  James’s  Hall  (May  19,  1870)  the 
Hindoo  reformer,  Baboo  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  bitterly 
complained  of  the  curse  the  English  liquor  traffic  had  been 
to  India.  “ The  whole  atmosphere  of  India,”  said  he, 
“ seems  to  be  rending  with  cries  of  thousands  of  poor 
helpless  widows,  who  curse  the  British  Government  for 
having  introduced  that  thing.” 

In  the  retrospect  for  1882,  in  the  Temperance  League 
Annual,  Mr.  Bobert  Rae,  the  secretary  of  the  League, 
says,  “ The  influecne  which  tbe  English  nation  exerts 
on  the  social  customs  of  the  colonies  is  very  great,  and 
in  the  matter  of  our  drinking  habits,  incalculable  harm 
has  been  done  to  many  of  our  dependencies.  Temperance 
reformers,  recognizing  this,  are  bound  to  do  all  in  their 
power  to  prevent  other  communities  from  being  saddled 
with  an  evil  which  they  themselves  are  endeavouring  to 
get  rid  of.” 

He  then  speaks  of  the  audience  granted  to  the  Rational 
Temperance  League  by  Cetewayo,  of  his  cordial  sympathy 
with  its  views,  and  his  assurances  that  he  had  issued  a 
proclamation  against  the  introduction  of  spirits,  which  be 
would  renew  on  his  restoration.  “ Tour  spirits  and  in- 
toxicants are  death,”  said  the  king,  “ but  it  is  no  good 
shutting  the  door  on  my  side,  for  I have  no  distilleries. 
I think  the  proper  way  would  be  for  the  Ratal  Government 
to  assist  me  by  placing  restrictions  upon  the  introduction 
of  spirituous  liquors  in  my  country.* 

* The  Alliance  News  (October  4,  1879)  quotes  the  following  from 
the  Birmingham  Daily  Mail : — “It  has  been  discovered  that  Cetewayo 
has  most  advanced  notions  on  the  subject  of  the  liquor  traffic.  He 
strictly  prohibits  the  sale  of  Cape  rum  and  other  spirits  in  his  country, 
and  a curious  story  appears  in  a contemporary  to-day,  showing  how 
this  law  was  promulgated.  A well-known  trader,  some  time  within 
the  last  four  years,  on  a visit  to  Ulundi,  surreptitiously  introduced  a 
quantity  of  liquor ; and  a native,  a relapsed  missionary  convert,  who 
was  working  for  the  king,  got  outrageously  drunk  thereon,  and  meet- 
ing the  king  abused  him  to  his  face,  calling  him  every  bad  name  in 
the  Zulu  vocabulary.  Instead  of  the  king  wreaking  his  vengeance 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


355 


How  needful  strict  laws  against  liquor  exportation  The  liquor 
would  be  if  prohibition  measures  were  passed,  is  fore-  s^mand"1* 
shadowed  by  the  two  notable  liquor  treaties  concluded  Madagascar 
during  the  last  session:  the  first  one  with  Siam,*  in  April  111 
(1883),  providing  the  importation  of  all  kinds  of  spirits, 
beers,  and  wines  by  British  subjects  on  the  same  conditions 
as  those  exacted  of  Siamese  subjects ; and  the  second 
with  the  government  of  Madagascar, f May  25th.  Both 
treaties  leaving  Siam  and  Madagascar  bound  literally  hand 
and  foot  to  the  liquor-traders  in  England  and  the  British 
subjects  (a  term  specially  and  broadly  debned)  in  both 
these  countries.  Commenting  on  the  treaty  with  Siam, 
the  Daily  News  says,  “ Much  of  the  alcoholic  liquor  which 

summarily  upon  the  inebriated  fool,  he  waited  until  the  next  day, 
when  the  man  was  sober,  and  then  accepted  his  apology,  at  the  same 
time  expressing  an  opinion  that  they  who  supplied  the  drink  were 
more  to  blame  than  he  was.  A law  was,  however,  thereupon  made 
by  Cetewayo  wholly  prohibiting  the  sale  of  spirits. 

* The  treaty  with  Siam  has  encouraged  Holland,  where  the  number 
of  public-houses  is  limited  by  law,  to  follow  the  example  of  Great 
Britain,  and  force  upon  Siam  a liquor  treaty  identical  with  the  one 
concluded  by  Great  Britain. 

f Says  the  Alliance  News  (September  13,  1879),  “The  effects  of 
rum  on  the  native  inhabitants  of  Madagascar  are  so  pernicious,  lead- 
ing to  commission  of  fearful  crimes  when  under  its  influence,  that  a 
number  of  Consuls,  missionaries,  and  other  influential  residents  of 
Madagascar,  have  addressed  a memorial  to  Queen  llanavalona,  asking 
that  its  importation  into  her  kingdom  may  be  prohibited  absolutely. 

The  memorial  and  the  reply  sent  by  the  Queen’s  Chief  Minister  are 
in  La  Hentinelle  de  Maurice  of  April  28,  and  from  the  reply  we  give 
the  following  translation,  showing  that  the  Queen  is  quite  alive 
to  the  necessity  for  restricting  the  sale  of  the  spirit  among  her 
subjects,: — 

“ ‘ The  Queen  has  directed  me  to  thank  you  for  the  desire  which 
you  express  that  she  will  not  permit  rum  to  enter  her  kingdom  in  such 
quantity  as  to  allow  the  people  to  drink  of  it  to  excess.  That  God 
may  bless  your  good  idea  is  the  earnest  wish  of  the  Queen.  As  for 
myself,  I have  attentively  considered  your  statements,  and  they  have 
afforded  me  much  pleasure,  and  I take  the  liberty  of  tkankmg  you, 
for  I see  by  them  how  great  is  the  interest  which  yon  take  in  the 
Malagasi  nation.  I have  the  honour  to  tell  you,  gentlemen,  that 
already  a law  has  been  framed  which  prohibits  the  drinking  of  rum 
in  the  kingdom  of  Madagascar.  In  your  letter  you  have  shown  the 
effects  of  rum-drinking  in  all  its  hideousness,  and  above  all  how  it 
brutalizes  men.  You  are  right ; and  the  Queen  thanks  you  for  your 
thoughtfulness,  which  has  been  inspired  by  your  friendship,  and  for 
the  great  good  of  her  people.’  ” 


356 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


finds  its  way  into  countries  in  tbe  position  of  Siam,  is  little 
better  than  poison,  and  ought  to  be  so  labelled.” 

As  to  Madagascar,  it  is  but  eight  years  since  the  press 
of  England  rung  with  praises  of  the  Madagascan  Queen 
for  her  liquor  prohibition  proclamation  (1876). 

England’s  responsibility  for  the  moral  and  social  con- 
dition of  affairs  in  Madagascar  is  indicated  in  the  following 
query  and  answer  in  the  House  of  Commons  debate, 
April  19,  1883  : — 

“ Mr.  Buxton  asked  the  Under- Secretary  for  Foreign 
Affairs  whether  it  was  a fact  that  Tamatave,  the  principal 
port  of  Madagascar,  was  supplied  to  an  enormous  extent 
with  inferior  and  poisonous  rum  from  Mauritius,  for  which 
no  other  market  could  be  found  ; whether  it  had  been  the 
cause  of  general  and  disgusting  intoxication  throughout 
the  town  and  neighbourhood  ; whether  the  Hova  Govern- 
ment formerly  imposed  a duty  of  thirty-three  per  cent, 
on  the  importation,  and  was  only  compelled  by  English 
and  other  consular  pressure  to  reduce  such  duty  to  ten 
per  cent.  ? . . . 

“ Lord  E.  Fitzmaurice : ‘ I regret  to  say  that  it  is  a 
fact  that  a large  quantity  of  inferior  rum  is  imported  into 
Madagascar  from  Mauritius,  and  it  has,  no  doubt,  been 
the  cause  of  the  evils  to  which  my  honourable  friend  refers.' 

If  drink  should  be  prohibited  in  England,  and  the 
exportation  at  the  same  time  not  prevented,  such  treaties 
as  these  (passed  in  order  to  make  up  for  those  £5,000,000 
less  of  revenue*  so  much  rejoiced  over  by  the  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer,  in  the  last  budget  ?)  are  significant  of 
how  further  internal  deficits  might  be  made  np. 

* The  causes  of  this  deficit  were  well  pointed  out  by  the  Eight 
Honourable  Balfour,  Lord  Advocate  of  Scotland.  “ The  weightiest 
utterance  on  the  liquor  traffic  iu  Scotland  came  from  the  highest 
Scottish  Parliamentary  official,  the  Eight  Honourable  Lord  Advocate 
Balfour.  We  read  with  much  pleasure  all  that  his  lordship  so  elo- 
quently said  with  regard  to  the  progress  made  by  the  temperance 
reformation,  especially  in  Parliament,  and  we  commend  his  lordship’s 
testimony  to  those  who  would  fain  believe  that  the  temperance  re- 
formers are  unable  to  move  on.  Of  the  £5,000,000  which  is  lost  to 
the  revenue,  a large  share  of  credit  is  justly  due  to  the  prohibitionists. 
The  Cameron  Act  of  1876,  the  Irish  Sunday  Closing  Act  of  1S7S,  and 
the  Steamboat  Passengers  Sunday  Act  of  1880  have  been  eminently 
helpful  in  that  beneficial  reduction.” — The  Social  Reformer,  February, 
1884. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


357 


§ 85.  Morewood,  in  his  Inebriating  Liquors  (1838), 
quotes  the  following  pregnant  saying  of  Playfair : — 

“ When  a nation  becomes  the  slave  of  its  revenue,  and 
sacrifices  everything  thereto,  abuses  that  favour  revenue 
are  difficult  to  reform.” 

And  liquor  legislation  in  England  to  this  day  has 
proved  the  truth  of  this  statement.  For  some  three 
hundred  years  it  has  been  the  case  that  in  the  measure 
revenue  has  been  needed,  English  Governments  have 
almost  invariably  encouraged  distillation  and  increased 
the  facilities  for  the  consumption  of  liquor. 

As  early  as  1552  the  first  Licensing  Act  was  passed : — - 
“ An  acte  for  keepers  of  ale-houses  to  be  bound  in  recog- 
nizances, and  giving  the  justices  power  to  close  ale-houses 
in  such  town  or  towns  as  they  shall  think  meet  and 
convenient.”  In  1553  a law  was  passed  providing  that 
no  town  should  be  granted  more  than  two  wine  licences, 
excepting  22 ; among  these  last,  London  was  allowed  40, 
York  8,  Bristol  6,  and  the  others  4 and  3.  But  neither 
Liverpool,  Manchester,  Birmingham,  Sheffield,  nor  Leeds 
were  included  among  these  exceptions.  During  James  I.’s 
reign  (1603)  licence  was  granted  by  letters  patent.  In 
1643  the  Long  Parliament  laid  a tax  on  beer  and  ale  for 
the  ensuing  year,  calling  it  by  the  new  name  excise,  pro- 
bably an  anglicizing  of  the  Belgian  acciisse,  signifying 
tribute. 

In  1753  an  act  was  passed  for  the  more  easy  conviction 
of  persons  selling  ale  and  strong  liquors  without  licence. 
In  1828  the  liquor-dealers  got  permission  to  appeal  to  the 
quarter  sessions  from  decisions  by  justices  of  peace.  In 
1830  the  pernicious  Beer  Act  was  passed,  to  rival  the 
public-house,  it  was  claimed.  In  1860  the  Refreshment 
Houses  and  Wine  Licences  Act  was  passed,  “ to  facilitate 
the  sale  and  consumption  of  light  foreign  wines  in  con- 
fectioners’ shops  and  eating-houses.”  February  10,  1S60, 
Mr.  Gladstone  made  a proposition  for  reducing  the 
duty  on  brandy  from  fifteen  shillings  per  gallon  to  eight 
shillings  and  twopence — the  colonial  duty ; and  although 
this  effort  failed,  he  succeeded  in  1861  in  passing  the 
Grocers’  Licence  Act. 


National 
slavery 
under  the 
liquor 
revenue. 


Brief  sum- 
mary of  the 
history  of 
licensing. 


The  Grocers’ 
Licence  Act. 


The  harm  that  Act  has  done  is  incalculable.  Already 


358 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  Satur- 
day Review 
on  the 
(rrocers’ 
Licence  Act, 
in  regard  to 
its  effect  in 
the  drawing- 
room. 


in  the  Evidence  on  Drunkenness  before  the  House  of 
Commons,  1834,  it  was  shown  that  Grocers’  Licences  did 
great  harm. 

The  Saturday  Review  (January  21,  1871),  in  an  article 
on  Drawing-room  Alcoholization,  says  in  regard  to  the 
results  from  these  licences — 

“ If  the  Lancet  laments,  as  it  has  done,  the  over-prescrip- 
tion of  stimulants  which,  was  ‘ too  much  in  fashion  a few 
years  ago,’  its  acknowledgment  of  the  perhaps  irreparable 
evil  is  unseen  by  the  general  reader.  The  literature  of 
temperance  societies  and  police  reports  does  not  affect  the 
divinities  of  our  Olympus,  who  hardly  guess  the  striking 
resemblance  between  their  nectar  and  the  gin  of  the 
‘ masses.’  . . . The  rich  escape  the  publicity  of  their 
practices  which  befals  our  poor,  and  consequently  we 
cannot  so  well  guess  at  the  causes  of  that  failure  in  duty  at 
home,  and  in  discretion  abroad,  which  appears  to  be  on  the 
increase  ; but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  frequent 
‘ pick-me-up,’  the  mid-day  and  afternoon  sherry  or  cham- 
pagne, may  have  much  to  do  with  the  pace  at  which  young 
men  and  maidens,  old  men  and  children,  Mayfair  mothers 
and  Belgravian  beauties,  are  posting  downhill.  . . . In- 
dulgence in  any  vice  always  entails  others,  but  the  distinct 
effect  of  alcohol  is  so  to  affect  the  nerves  and  brain  that 
the  material  power  to  resist  any  temptation  is  lessened  in 
proportion  to  the  quantity  taken.  This  is  hardly,  then,  a 
safe  stimulant  for  women,  nor  will  it,  even  in  small  quan- 
tities, advantageously  develop  their  peculiarities.  . . . 
Supposing  the  lady  of  the  house  never  exceeds  the  sherry 
she  can  carry  with  dignity  and  self-approval,  and  get 
decently  through  her  daily  round  of  deadly-lively  occupa- 
tion, she  remains  a proof  that  a woman  with  a taste  for 
strong  liquors  has  seldom  any  other  taste.  Her  maid  puts 
on  her  clothes,  but  she  is  careless  of  her  appearance,  and 
even  liable  to  personal  unkemptness.  She  is  often  un- 
punctual, fractious  before  her  dram,  and  dull  afterwards. 
She  does  not  cultivate  friends  or  acquaintances  who  could 
be  any  check  to  her  practices.  She  likes  her  mankind  to 
be  much  away  from  the  house,  and  if  they  take  no  notice 
of  the  quantity  of  wine  consumed  in  their  establishment 
she  will  be  affectionate,  if  rather  stupid,  to  them.  Of  what 
is  pure  and  noble  in  life  she  loses  appreciation,  while  all 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


359 


that  is  animal  is  intensified  in  her.  If  she  has  children, 
they  will  probably  suffer  from  constitutional  depression  and 
weakness,  and  ‘ tone  ’ will  be  plentifully  supplied  by  port 
wine,  and  even  brandy,  from  their  infancy  up.  With  the 
career  of  the  boys  we  are  not  here  concerned,  but  of  the 
girls  what  may  or  may  not  be  prophesied  P If  they  have 
escaped  positive  disease  by  the  time  they  are  launched  in 
the  world,  they  will  be,  at  all  events,  dependent  for  their 
‘ go’  in  society  on  copious  champagne  and  frequent  sherry. 
Naturally  they  will  join  the  increasing  mob  of  fast  girls, 
with  all  that  is  involved  in  that  evil.  We  are  sensible  of 
a distinct  moral  relaxation  among  women,  and  of  a new 
sort  of  unwomanly  recklessness  in  the  presence  of  men. 
We  complain  of  a prevalent  coarseness  even  among  the 
virtuous,  not  only  of  manner,  but  of  imagination  and  pur- 
suits, and  we  are  sometimes  tempted  to  prefer  the  age  of 
Nell  Gwynne  or  Madame  de  Pompadour  to  the  actual  con- 
fusion of  daredevil  women  and  unabashed  spinsters.  It 
would  seem  that  alcohol  has  something  to  do  with  this 
disorder,  for  the  physical  effects  of  it  on  women  are  proved 
by  medical  investigation  to  be  precisely  what  would 
denaturalize  them.” 

Commenting  on  this  article  Dr.  Anstie,  in  a paper  on 
The  Use  and  Abuse  of  Alcohol  by  Women,  in  the  Practitioner 
(March,  1871),  says— 

“ The  fact  is,  that  all  tipplers  become  more  or  less 
untruthful,  but  that  female  tipplers  invariably  become 
shameless  and  most  skilful  liars.  And  the  favourite  lie 
which  they  invent  as  an  excuse  for  their  habits  is  an 
apocryphal  medical  order  ‘ to  take  plenty  of  support  and 
stimulants.’  We  have  personally  detected  the  manufac- 
ture and  skilful  dissemination  of  this  particular  falsehood 
in  several  instances,  and  the  practice  is  notorious  to 
physicians  who  see  much  of  nervous  diseases.” 

And  the  Spectator  (February  18,  1871)  says,  in  an  article 
on  Women  and  Alcohol — 

“ It  is  ruin  for  them,  as  it  is  for  men,  and  in  both  cases 
for  the  same  reason,  because  any  narcotizing  poison,  once 
in  possession  of  the  system,  paralyzes  the  will ; but  it  is  ruin 
far  quicker,  and,  owing  to  the  organization  of  society, 
more  complete.  We  are  not  inclined  to  believe  what  the 
Saturday  says  and  the  Practitioner  hints,  that  liquor  impairs 


The  Prac- 
titioner 
on  the  same. 


The 

Spectator 
on  women 
and  alcohol . 


3G0 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Protests 
made  by  the 
press  against 
the  Grocers’ 
Licence  Act. 
The  Alliance 
News . 


chastity  in  women  more  than  in  men  ; hut  women  depend 
upon  the  will,  which  the  influence  of  the  poison  cripples, 
and  suffer  more  visibly  when  its  paralysis  has  thrown  them 
hack  defenceless  upon  impulse,  whether  the  impulse  he 
kleptomania  or  concession  to  solicitations.” 

Mrs.  Dawson  Burns,  writing  in  the  Alliance  News, 
January  4,  1879,  says : — 

“ The  motive  prompting  these  Acts  was  good;  it  was 
avowedly  to  draw  away  the  public-house  and  beershop 
votaries.  Statistics  signally  show  a failure  in  that  object ; 
going  still  further,  they  unfortunately  prove  that,  rather 
than  lessening  the  one  evil,  these  Acts  open  up  channels 
for  a different  class  of  women  obtaining  drink  who  would 
rarely,  on  account  of  their  social  status,  have  ventured 
into  either  a public-house  or  beershop. 

“ These  licences,  though  not  restricted  to,  are  chiefly 
granted  to  grocers,  confectioners,  the  keepers  of  refresh- 
ment bars,  and  restaurants ; and  through  such  facilities 
the  mischief  is  extended  to  a section  of  our  female  popula- 
tion who  largely  avail  themselves  of  these  means — women 
who,  by  reason  of  their  educational  attainments  and 
position,  exercise  a wider  influence  than  others. 

“ These  Acts  have  led  to  two  results  : First,  the  well- 
known  habit  of  ladies,  even  young  ladies,  in  their  ordinary 
walks  and  shopping,  entering  these  more  respectable 
refreshment  places,  and  partaking  of  stimulants  between 
the  hours  of  meals.  Second,  the  inducement  they  have 
given  to  secret  drinking  by  ladies  in  their  own  houses.” 

The  same  article  quotes  the  following  from  the  Lancet's 
protest  against  the  continuance  of  this  Act,  which  protest 
was  signed  by  920  physicians,  surgeons,  and  medical 
practitioners : — 

“We,  the  undersigned,  being  members  of  the  medical 
profession,  beg  to  record  our  strong  persuasion  that  the 
facilities  for  obtaining  spirits,  wines,  stout,  and  ale,  in 
bottles,  which  are  provided  by  the  ‘ Grocers’  Licence,’  have 
a most  injurious  tendency.  We  believe  that  women, 
servants,.  and  children  of  respectable  households,  who  could 
not,  or  would  not,  procure  intoxicating  drinks  at  public- 
houses,  are  encouraged  to  purchase  and  use  these  liquors 
by  the  opportunity  offered  when  visiting  the  grocers’  shops 
for  other  purposes.  Female  domestic  servants  are  often 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


361 


enabled  to  obtain  bottles  of  spirits,  wine,  and  beer  at  a 
small  cost  on  credit,  or  as  ‘ commission  ’ on  the  household 
bills.  This  trade  is  wholly  removed  from  police  super- 
vision, and  it  is  a direct  incentive  to  secret  drinking,  a 
practice  more  injurious  to  the  health  and  moral  and  social 
prosperity  of  the  community  than  the  ordinary  trade  in 
intoxicating  liquors  as  carried  on  by  the  licensed  victuallers. 
We  protest  against  the  continuance  of  this  licence  on 
grounds  moral  and  medical ; and  we  urge  its  consideration 
by  a ‘ Select  Committee  of  the  House  of  Peers  ’ now  in- 
vestigating the  subject  of  intemperance,  and  the  measures 
expedient  to  reduce  the  evils  of  excess.  The  abolition  of 
this  special  licence  we  hold  to  be  the  first,  and  perhaps  the 
most  practical,  step  within  the  province  of  the  Legislature.” 

In  the  Lords  Committee  on  Intemperance,  1879, 
abundant  proofs  were  given  that  the  grocers’  licences  were 
a most  prolific  cause  of  increased  drunkenness  among 
women. 

Early  in  the  present  year  (1883)  the  Lancet  says  : — 

“When,  some  years  ago,  we  made  an  energetic  but,  as 
it  unhappily  proved,  a vain  endeavour  to  influence  public 
opinion  in  favour  of  the  total  abolition  of  grocers’  licences 
to  sell  spirits  and  wines  in  bottles,  we  pointed  out  how 
women  obtained  intoxicating  beverages  under  cover  of 
‘ groceries,’  and  how  grocers  not  uncommonly  gave 
Christmas  presents  to  customers  and  their  servants  in  the 
shape  of  bottles  of  brandy,  whisky,  or  wine.  At  a recent 
inquest  on  the  body  of  an  old  woman,  who  was  found  dead 
in  her  bed  after  a drinking  bout,  it  was  stated  that  a bottle 
of  whisky,  which  had  been  presented  by  the  grocer,  was 
found  under  the  bed-clothes  nearly  empty,  but  still  clutched 
by  the  poor  victim  of  this  false  kindness,  although  the 
hand  with  which  she  seemed  to  grasp  it  was  dead.  This 
is  only  an  incident,  but  it  will  serve  to  show  how  this  most 
mischievous  licence  tells  against  public  and  social  prosperity 
. . . Probably,  hereafter,  when  much  dire  and  irreparable 
mischief  has  been  wrought,  it  will  be  seen  that  this  State 
facility  for  the  secret  pursuit  of  vice,  ‘ the  grocers’ 
licence,’  ought  to  be  abolished.” 

And  a little  later,  the  Lancet  adds  : — 

“ The  demoralization  of  women  by  these  most  senseless 
and  mischievous  licences  is  an  evil  we  have  deplored,  and 


The  Lancet. 


362 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  attitude 
of  the  Church 
of  England 
Temperance 
Society. 


Canon 
Leigh's 
advice  to  the 
Women's 
Union  to 
boycott 
liquor-sell- 
ing grocers. 


The  Temper- 
ance Record 
on  the  in- 
creasing in- 
temperance 
among 
women  as 
being  largely 
due  to  the 
Grocers’ 
Licence  Act. 


which  would  long  since  have  found  a sufficient  remedy  but 
that  the  great  landlords  of  London  and  elsewhere  would 
find  their  personal  interests  affected  by  the  passing  of  any 
law  putting  an  end  to  the  social  plague  of  the  grocers’ 
licence.  Unfortunately,  these  landlords  occupy  positions 
of  influence  in  the  Legislature,  and  therefore  the  evil 
cannot  be  wholly  remedied. 

The  attitude  of  the  Church  of  England  Temperance 
Society  on  this  most  important  matter  has  been  noble.  Its 
Women’s  Union  addressed  letters  inquiring  into  the  actual 
facts  as  to  the  evils  wrought  by  these  licences,  to  “ clergy- 
men, medical  men,  coroners,  and  others.”  The  responses 
to  these  inquiries,  published  in  pamphlet  form  early  in 
1883,  fully  substantiate  by  various  and  conclusive  evidence 
the  fact  that  the  grocers’  licences  have  carried,  and  are 
carrying,  the  evil  of  drink  among  women  to  an  alarming 
extent,  and  particularly  increasing  it  among  a class  of 
women  who  would  not  think  of  resorting  to  the  public- 
house. 

In  the  Church  of  England  Temperance  Chronicle  (May  12, 
1883),  I find  the  following  quoted  from  the  speech  of 
Canon  Leigh,  delivered  in  Exeter  Hall  (April  26)  : — 

“ I would  wish  to  draw  attention,  as  it  has  been  drawn 
over  and  over  again,  to  the  dreadful  system  of  grocers’ 
licences,  which  I am  quite  certain  is  contributing  more  than 
anything  else  to  the  increase  of  drinking  amongst  women. 
I should  strongly  urge  upon  all  the  members  of  the 
Women’s  Union  never  to  deal  with  grocers  who  trade  in 
spirituous  liquors,  and  to  advise  their  friends  not  to  do  so 
either.” 

Of  the  steadily  increasing  intemperance  among  women, 
the  Temperance  Record  (November  15,  1883)  says : — 

“ It  is  one  of  the  most  discouraging  features  of  our 
time.  Recent  judicial  statistics  clearly  show  not  only  that 
there  is  a greater  proportionate  increase  of  drunkenness 
amongst  women,  but  that  in  their  case  the  habit  is  more 
inveterate  than  in  men.  In  the  Judicial  Statistics  for 
1882,  recently  published,  it  is  stated  that  the  offenders  who 
have  been  convicted  for  any  crime  above  ten  times  are 
4391  males,  and  8946  females,  or  8’9  and  29‘3  per  cent, 
respectively  on  the  total  commitments.  In  other  words, 
more  than  a quarter  of  all  women  in  prison,  whose  offence 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


363 


is  not  the  first,  have  been  in  over  ten  times.  A comparison 
of  five  years  will  show  how  women  have  been  steadily 
getting  worse  in  this  respect : — 1878,  5673  females  ; 1879, 

5800  females;  1880,  6773  females;  1881,  7946  females; 

1882,  8946  females.  This  preponderance  of  women, 
according  to  the  competent  testimony  of  the  Rev.  J.  W. 

Horsley,  is  almost  entirely  due  to  the  special  character,  and 
the  increase,  of  female  intemperance.  . . . One  cause 
against  which  the  Lancet  has  nobly  protested  is  what  is 
familiarly  known  as  the  Grocers’  Licences  Act.  The  repeal 
of  that  Act,  we  feel  persuaded,  would  put  a decided  check 
upon  the  increase  of  female  intemperance,  and  should  be 
urgently  pressed  upon  the  Legislature  by  all  classes  of 
social  reformers.” 

The  following  picture  is  taken  from  the  chapter  on  Mr.  George 
“ The  Secret  Sin,”  in  the  Social  Kaleidoscope  by  George  R.  the  social11 
Sims.  Drawn  by  a pen  to  which  the  world  is  deeply  ef™^s?fthe 
indebted  for  a circumstantial  knowledge  of  the  drink-evil  licences, 
in  its  connection  with  poverty,  and  for  striking  practical 
suggestions  as  to  remedies  and  reforms,  its  details  are 
vouched  for  from  personal  observations. 

“ The  pen  almost  hesitates  brutally  to  describe  a high- 
bred, lovely  woman  by  the  word  ‘ drunkard.’  It  seems  as 
if  such  an  appellation  could  give  rise  in  the  mind  of  the 
reader  only  to  vicious,  coarse,  degraded  womanhood.  It  is, 
alas  ! a revelation  of  these  later  days  of  modern  civilization 
that  intemperance  is  almost  as  prevalent  among  the  higher 
ranks  of  female  society  as  it  is  among  the  very  lowest. 

There  is,  however,  this  difference.  Sally  Giles,  of  Lant 
Street,  Borough,  gets  drunk  in  the  public-house  and  rolls 
about  the  streets  ; Lady  Clara  Sangazur  drinks  in  her 
boudoir,  and  dozes  off  her  ‘ bad  headache  ’ in  the  quietude 
of  her  bedchamber.  We  know  through  the  police  reports, 
and  we  see  with  our  eyes,  the  havoc  which  drink  is  making 
among  the  lower  orders ; its  ravages  in  the  upper  classes  of 
society  are  known  only  to  the  doctor  and  the  friends  of 
the  family,  save  when  every  now  and  then  an  aristocratic 
divorce  case  reveals  the  fact  that  the  lady  was  ‘ in- 
temperate.’ Seeing  it  not,  good  folks  are  inclined  to 
doubt  its  existence.  Alas  ! it  is  the  great  social  evil  of  the 
day  ; and  until  it  is  thoroughly  exposed,  the  means  taken 
to  stamp  it  out  must  necessarily  be  insufficient.  Look  at 


364 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Mabel  North,  this  fair  young  creature,  the  picture  of  health 
and  pleasure.  Who  among  the  admiring  crowd  about 
would  suspect  that  she  is  a dram-drinker,  a woman  who 
gets  helplessly  drank  whenever  she  has  the  chance,  and 
who  will  pour  ardent  spirits  down  her  throat  like  water  P 
No  one.  But  I,  knowing  the  history  of  her  case,  deem  it 
my  duty  to  drag  her  before  the  world  in  her  real  character 
and  lay  bare  the  canker-worm  in  this  lovely  flower.  I will 
write  no  word  of  her  that  is  not  true.  I have  seen  her 
within  the  last  twelve  hours,  and  I am  yet  trembling  at 
what  I saw.  But,  lest  I should  be  accused  of  endeavouring 
to  work  up  a sensational  story  out  of  an  every-day  cata- 
strophe, let  me  give  you  the  details  of  her  case  in  the 
ordinary  matter-of-fact  way. 

“ Mr.  North  looks  anxiously  at  his  wife  in  the  refresh- 
ment-room this  evening,  and  sighs,  because  she  has  for 
three  days  kept  her  promise  to  him  that  she  would  not 
touch  drink  of  any  sort.  Yielding  to  her  earnest  solicita- 
tions, he  has  brought  her  to  the  ball,  though  he  would 
rather  for  the  present  she  had  avoided  the  excitement. 
And  now,  flushed  with  the  dancing  and  pleased  with  the 
admiration  her  beauty  has  aroused,  she  has  resented  his 
anxious  and  meaning  glance,  and  has  accepted  iced  cham- 
pagne from  the  hand  of  her  partner.  Later  on  she  returns 
again  for  sherry.  At  supper  she  has  more  champagne. 
After  supper  she  goes  again  into  the  refreshment-room 
and  has  an  ice.  She  eats  half  the  ice,  and  feels  faint.  In 
the  ladies’  dressing-room  she  knows  she  will  find  what  she 
requires,  and  thither  she  repairs.  1 1 feel  faint,’  she  says 
to  the  maid.  The  maid  smiles,  and  produces  the  brandy- 
bottle.  She  is  used  to  her  business,  and  she  knows  what 
the  lady  of  to-day  takes  for  faintness.  You  who  would 
ape  the  manners  and  customs  of  modern  fashion,  mind 
that  you  put  a plentiful  supply  of  brandy  and  gin  in  the 
ladies’  dressing-rooms — they  look  for  it.  You  might  as 
well  have  no  ices  in  the  refreshment-room  as  no  spirits  in 
this  apartment.  Presently  North  peremptorily  bids  his 
wife  put  on  her  cloak  and  come ; he  sees  the  warning  look 
in  her  eyes,  and  the  nervous  dread  that  some  one  else  will 
notice  it  comes  npon  him  at  once.  She  obeys,  and  they 
drive  home.  In  the  carriage  he  remonstrates  with  her. 
She  is  sleepy  and  sullen,  and  makes  no  reply.  Only  she 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


365 


feels  the  sense  of  thirst  growing  upon  her,  and  when  she 
gets  home  she  will  drag  another  bottle  of  brandy  from  its 
hiding-place  in  her  maid’s  room  and  empty  it. 

****** 

“The  next  day  Mabel  North’s  husband  is  the  picture  of 
despair.  Incensed  at  her  open  defiance  of  her  plighted 
word,  he  has  taken  her  somewhat  harshly  to  task,  and 
dared  her  to  drink  any  more  spirits.  He  has  commanded 
her  to  be  temperate,  as  if  that  were  any  use.  She  defies 
him  openly.  The  spirit  has  done  its  work,  and  she  laughs 
foolishly,  and  tells  him  he  may  lock  the  cellar  and  do  what 
he  likes,  but  she  will  get  it  still.  He  fancies  he  can  be 
clever  enough  to  keep  drink  from  her  if  he  tries.  He 
locks  up  all  the  wine  and  spirits.  She  sends  her  servants 
to  the  public-house.  He  finds  it  out,  and  threatens  them 
with  dismissal  if  they  repeat  the  offence.  She  goes  out 
and  gets  it  herself,  brings  it  in  from  the  grocer’s  in  the 
carriage,  and  carries  it  upstairs  under  her  cloak.  For  six 
weeks  she  is  in  a semi-maudlin  state  of  intoxication,  and 
his  every  effort  to  stop  the  supply  is  defeated.  In  despair 
he  takes  away  her  money,  and  refuses  to  give  her  any. 
He  will  pay  all  bills  himself.  The  first  result  of  this 
arrangement  is  a discovery  that  there  are  five  times  as 
many  pounds  of  tea  charged  in  the  grocer’s  bill  as  could 
possibly  have  been  consumed.  He  makes  inquiries,  and 
finds  that  tea  in  a grocer’s  bill  means  spirits ; that  it  is 
supplied  to  the  lady  of  the  house  in  this  manner,  and  is 
called  tea  to  deceive  those  it  may  be  necessary  to  deceive. 
Challenged,  the  grocer  defends  himself.  He  states  that  it 
is  the  custom  of  the  trade  to  supply  ladies  with  spirits  and 
charge  them  as  tea  and  sugar  and  sauce.  It  is  the  large 
secret  consumption  of  spirits  by  well-to-do  women  that 
renders  the  grocers’  licences  so  valuable.  Ladies  cannot 
buy  at  the  public-house ; to  draw  heavily  on  the  cellar 
would  alarm  the  husband  ; but  an  unlimited  quantity  can 
be  sent  into  the  house  quietly  by  the  grocer,  and  charged 
as  tea  or  some  other  article  of  daily  household  consumption. 
I have  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  growth  of  secret 
drinking  among  ladies  is  largely  contributed  to  by  the 
system  of  grocers’  licences.  ...  To  watch  the  woman  he 
loves  becoming  gradually  dead  to  fine  feeling,  dead  to  social 
etiquette,  and  at  last  dead  even  to  decency,  is  the  lot  of 


36G 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


more  men  at  the  present  moment  than  the  world  dreams 
of.  The  secret  is  hideous,  and  is  sacredly  kept  as  long  as 
possible.  . . . 

“Mr.  North  made  another  despairing  effort  to  rescue 
his  wife.  He  set  a watch  upon  her,  aDd  kept  her  entirely 
without  money.  At  first,  unable  to  obtain  alcohol,  she 
drank  scent ; hut  the  cunning  bred  of  dipsomania  suggested 
to  her  a means  of  obtaining  both  money  and  brandy.” 
She  opened  his  correspondence,  abstracted  all  sums  it 
chanced  to  enclose,  and  hid  or  destroyed  all  letters  which 
asked  him  for  the  return  of  sums  she  had  borrowed.  On 
discovering  this,  her  husband  made  inquiry  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, and  found  that  she  had  borrowed  money  wherever 
she  had  upon  any  pretext  found  it  possible  to  do  so,  and 
had  even  borrowed  valuable  articles  from  different  shops 
and  pawned  them.  He  was  forced  to  check  these  proceed- 
ings by  advertisement,  in  order  to  escape  ruin.  This 
“ seemed  to  break  the  last  tie  that  restrained  her.  She 
borrowed  small  sums  of  the  servants,  pawned  her  jewellery, 
stole  from  her  husband’s  pockets,  resorted  to  every  trick 
she  could  think  of  to  get  money,  and  every  farthing  went 
down  her  throat. 

“ Her  health  now  began  to  give  way,  and  she  grew 
violent.  Once,  when  he  seized  her  by  the  arm,  she  rushed 
at  her  husband  and  tore  his  face  with  her  nails ; she  cursed 
the  servants  if  they  interfered  with  her ; and  the  doctor 
who  attended  her  roundly  told  her  at  last  that  if  she  did 
not  alter,  he  would  certify  that  she  was  mad  and  put  her 
under  restraint.  For  a time  this  threat  had  an  effect,  but 
the  disease  had  advanced  to  a stage  when  it  is  rarely 
cured.  In  a week  she  had  a relapse,  and,  managing  by 
some  means  to  get  half  a dozen  of  brandy  into  the  house, 
she  drank  the  lot  in  four  days,  and  was  mad  drunk.  Like 
a beautiful  fiend,  she  tore  about  the  room  cursing  and 
raving,  and  shrieking  that  she  was  pursued  by  devils. 
The  servants,  terrified  by  a sudden  access  of  violence, 
called  her  husband,  and  he  entered  the  room  and  ran 
towards  her  with  a cry  of  horror.  He  had  never  seen  her 
like  this  before — a foul-mouthed  madwoman,  tearing  at 
the  air,  and  threatening  murder  to  any  one  who  came  uear 
her.  As  he  ran  towards  her  to  secure  her  she  flung  up  her 
arms.  . . . 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


367 


“ She  met  her  death  leaping  from  an  open  window  to 
avoid  her  husband ; and  the  coroner’s  verdict,  translated 
into  plain  English,  says  that  her  death  was  due  to  a 
drunken  frenzy.  I have  glossed  over  this  ghastly  picture, 
merely  suggesting  the  outlines  of  it.  And  yet,  toned 
down  as  it  is,  there  will  be  hundreds  who  will  question 
its  truth  and  say  it  is  overdrawn.  To  such  I would  say, 
Who  are  the  men  most  likely  to  know  ? The  medical  pro- 
fession. Ask,  then,  any  medical  man  whose  practice  lies 
among  women  of  the  better,  middle,  and  upper  classes,  and 
he  will  tell  yon  there  is  no  doctor  with  any  connection  at 
all  who  has  not  half  a dozen  lady  secret  drinkers  on  his 
books.  This  secret  drinking  is  a social  cancer,  and  it  is 
eating’  away  all  that  is  noblest  and  best  in  womanly  nature. 
We  have  asylums  for  idiots  and  lunatics;  when  are  we  to 
have  an  asylum  for  dipsomaniacs  ? ” 

When  we  remember  that  insanity  is  more  prevalent  and 
less  curable  proportionately  among  drinking  women  than 
among  drinking  men  ; that  the  children  of  the  drinking 
mother  are  more  certainly  victims  of  alcoholic  heredity  in 
all  its  either  fatal  or  most  baneful  and  degrading  forms, 
than  are  those  of  the  drinking  father  ; — when  we  remember 
these  things,  then  indeed  does  the  necessity  for  the  repeal 
of  such  an  Act  as  the  Grocers’  Licences  come  home  with 
overwhelming  force. 


§ 86.  Besides  these  large  measures,  there  are  many 
minor  legislative  steps  of  more  or  less  importance,  both  of 
preventive  and  restrictive  character,  which  might  be  taken. 
For  example,  it  should  no  longer  be  left  optional  with 
licensing  magistrates  to  renew  licences  to  publicans  who 
are  disreputable  and  strain  or  transgress  the  law.  It  ought 
to  be  compulsory  to  have  large  and  low  windows  to  public- 
houses  (as  is  the  case  on  the  continent),  so  that  passers 
could  see  what  was  going  on  within.  If  it  is  a respectable 
thing  to  frequent  public-houses,  why  should  the  scenes 
within  be  concealed  ? If  it  is  disreputable,  why  should  it 
have  the  encouragement  of  being  specially  screened,  and 
the  police  be  at  the  same  time  hindered  in  their  duty  of 
watching  such  places  P 

Publicans  ought  to  be  forbidden  to  employ  women  as 


The  most 
pressing 
reason  for 
the  repeal  of 
the  grocers’ 
licences. 


Various 
lesser  legis- 
lative 
measures. 

Restriction 
of  the  power 
of  renewing 
licences. 

Low 
windows 
compulsory 
for  public- 
houses. 


3G8 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Prohibition 
of  the  em- 
ployment of 
•women  as 
bar-tenders. 


Public  con- 
veyances 
should 
neither  bear 
the  names  of. 
nor  have 
their  stations 
at,  public- 
houses. 


Canon 
Ellison  on 
juvenile  in- 
temperance 
in  Liverpool 
and  Man- 
chester. 


bar-tenders.*  Among  incitements  to  drink,  especially  in 
England,  Denmark,  and  Sweden,  are  tbe  barmaids.  Some 
of  the  prettiest  girls  in  England  are  to  be  found  behind  the 
liquor  bars,  a fact  illustrated  by  the  Annual  Barmaid 
Shows.  The  Danish  town  of  Veile  has  recognized  the 
presence  of  these  girl  bar-tenders,  as  a cause  of  intemper- 
ance, by  imposing  restrictions  on  public-house  keepers,  who 
are  forbidden  by  the  town  authorities  to  employ  servant- 
maids  under  the  age  of  forty  years  ! If  such  a law  as  this 
could  be  passed  and  enforced  in  London,  and  other  large 
centres,  what  incalculable  good  would  be  the  result  as 
regards  both  drink  and  the  social  evil.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  women  thus  employed  are  demoralized  and  de- 
graded in  body  and  mind.  They  live  generally  but  a few 
years,  and  the  majority  of  them,  whether  death  comes  early 
or  late,  die  as  abandoned  women.  Not  a few  students  of 
the  social  evil  regard  the  public-house  as  the  chief  recruit- 
ing office  of  the  brothel. 

The  starting  and  stopping  station  of  public  omnibuses 
should  not  be  at  public-houses,  nor  should  these  vehicles 
be  labelled  from  these  resorts. 

And  publicans  should  not  be  allowed  to  sell  drink  to 
known  habitual  drunkards,  nor  to  children. 

In  a paper  read  some  years  ago  in  Liverpool,  before  the 
National  Association  for  Promoting  Amendment  in  the 
Laws  relating  to  the  Liquor  Traffic,  Canon  Ellison  quoted 
the  following  from  a country  journal: — “On  Monday 
morning  the  magistrates  of  Liverpool  had  before  them 


* The  Church  of  England  Temperance  Chronicle  (February  17, 
1883)  cites  as  follows  from  the  Irish  Temperance  League  Journal : — “The 
disestablishment  and  disendowment  of  ‘ Barmaids  ’ is  a coming 
question.  In  many  quarters  there  are  signs  of  the  steady  advance- 
ment of  a determination  to  do  away  with  this  blot  upon  English 
civilization.  Why  fair  girls  should  be  stationed  behind  bars  for  ten, 
twelve,  and  fourteen  hours  a day  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  meaningless 
compliments  of  the  brainless  boobies  who  pay  so  many  twopences  for 
the  privilege,  is  more  than  passing  strange.  We  put  girls  into 
taverns  to  sell  drink  to  men,  and  men  into  shops  to  sell  ribbons  to 
girls  ! ” 

“ ‘ I have  heard  publicans  say  they  wished  they  had  never  entered 
the  business,  and  would  be  glad  to  get  out  of  it.’  It  was  very  difficult 
for  barmen  and  barmaids  to  get  out  of  it,  as  no  one  would  employ 
them  after  they  had  been  engaged  in  a public-house.” — The  Christian, 
March  6,  1883. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


369 


twenty  boys  and  girls  under  the  age  of  seventeen,  all  of 
whom  had  been  found  beastly  drunk  in  the  public  streets 
on  Sunday,  and  incapable  of  taking  care  of  themselves.  . . . 
Again,  on  a given  Sunday  22,000  children  were  counted  in 
the  public-houses  and  beershops  of  Manchester ; and  the 
clergyman,  entering  one  of  the  beershops  at  one  in  the 
morning,  found  it  full  of  boys  and  girls  drinking.” 

During  late  years  juvenile  intemperance  is  on  the 
increase.  As  recently  as  last  Christmas  the  papers  reported 
many  pathetic  examples.  In  the  Daily  News  (December 
28,  1883)  appeared  the  following  touching  letter : — - 

“ Girls  and  Dogs. 

“ Sir, — Your  column  of  ‘ General  Home  Hews  ’ of  this 
morning  has  two  items,  which,  as  they  are  next  to  each 
other  in  grim  satire,  ought  not  to  be  passed  over  without 
public  attention  being  called  to  them.  The  first  is  the 
horrible  story  from  Birmingham  of  two  little  girls,  nine 
and  twelve  years  old  respectively,  together  with  a cousin 
ten  years  old,  pui’chasing  whisky,  getting  drunk,  and 
almost  killing  themselves.  The  next  is  the  story  of  three 
dogs  at  Castle  Hedingham  falling  sick  upon  the  road  to  the 
meet  for  fox-hunting,  presumably  having  been  poisoned. 
In  this  case  ‘ great  indignation  was  expressed  by  the 
public,’  ‘ and  the  hunting  for  the  day  was  postponed.’  A 
reward  of  £50  has  been  offered  for  information  which  may 
bring  the  guilt  home  to  the  perpetrators.  Aud  what  about 
the  persons  who  supplied  the  drink  to  the  three  little 
girls  ? Apparently  no  public  indignation  is  expressed  at 
the  Birmingham  outrage.  What,  after  all,  are  three 
children  more  or  less  in  our  overcrowded  towns  ? The  bay 
of  the  foxhound  is  pleasant  and  cheery,  and  we  cannot 
afford  to  lose  that  music  on  the  hillside.  The  bitter  cry 
of  the  outcast  is  not  sweet,  and  the  sooner  we  quench  it  in 
the  water  of  death  the  better.  So,  of  course,  £50  for  the 
discovery  of  the  miscreant  who  poisoned  the  dogs  ; for 
the  licensed  trader  who  gave  the  children  whisky,  com- 
pensation when  the  time  comes  to  shut  up  his  dram-shop. 
We  have  received  from  Birmingham  much  political  light 
and  leading.  We  shall  wait  anxiously  to  hear  her  voice, 
in  answer  to  the  piteous  wail  of  her  three  children 

2 B 


Instances  of 
juvenile  in- 
temperance 
cited  by  the 
Daily  News, 
December, 
1883. 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


poisoned  upon  the  nativity  of  the  Bethlehem  infant. — 
Yours,  etc. 

“Llewelyn  D.  Bevan. 

“ Highbury,  N.,  December  27.” 

By  the  Globe.  A few  days  later  the  Globe,  commenting  on  this  wicked 
condition  of  things,  said — 

“ It  is  most  painful  to  see,  from  the  provincial  police- 
court  records  of  Christmastide  crime,  that  juvenile  intem- 
perance is  increasing.  Instances  are  reported  all  over 
the  kingdom,  and  in  some  the  tipplers  were  girls  of 
tender  years.  Thus,  at  Birmingham,  two  little  damsels, 
the  one  nine  and  the  other  twelve,  opened  their  money- 
boxes one  night,  and  invested  the  contents,  2s.,  in  whisky. 
Being  joined  by  a ten-year-old  cousin,  the  three  sat  down, 
and  then  and  there  consumed  every  drop  of  the  spirit. 
They  were  afterwards  found  in  a helpless  state  of  intoxica- 
tion, and  the  youngest  still  remains  seriously  ill.  But  a 
boys’  drinking-bout  at  Warrington  actually  terminated  in 
the  death  of  one  lad,  aged  twelve,  from  alcoholic  poisoning. 
He,  and  three  other  youngsters,  bought  a pint  of  whisky 
and  drank  it  out  of  an  egg-cup,  apparently  in  an  undiluted 
state.  We  could  multiply  these  shocking  instances  almost 
indefinitely,  and  the  question  therefore  arises  as  to  whether 
some  more  stringent  restrictions  should  not  be  placed  on 
the  sale  of  stimulants  to  children.  In  the  Warrington 
case,  the  publican  declared  that  he  would  not  have  sold  the 
whisky  to  the  lads  if  he  had  thought  they  intended  to 
drink  it  themselves.  The  coroner,  nevertheless,  censured 
him  for  his  carelessness  ; and  never  was  reprimand  more 
richly  deserved.  When  children  ask  to  be  served  with 
spirits,  it  rests  with  them  to  show  that  they  are  merely 
employed  as  messengers,  and  any  publican  who  does  not 
exact  full  evidence  on  that  head  would  not  be  a bit  too 
heavily  punished  were  his  licence  endorsed.” 
imprison-  It  ought  to  be  practicable  to  pass  a law  preventing  the 

ment  a possibility  of  such  degradation  as  this.  Ho  physician  of 
penalty  for  any  standing  denies  that  drink  is  a poison  to  the  young, 
seUing'or  and  no  father,  mother,  or  guardian  worthy  of  the  name 
giving  drink  will  allow  minors  under  their  charge  to  drink.  It  ought,  in- 
0 " c deed,  to  be  a prison  offence  for  any  full-grown  person  caught 
in  the  act  of  forcing  or  coaxing  little  ones  to  drink. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


371 


“There  can  be  no  question,”  says  the  Lancet  (May, 
1883),  “hut  that  some  change  is  urgently  necessary 
in  relation  to  the  facilities  publicly  offered  for  juvenile 
drinking,  and,  consequently,  juvenile  inebriety.  Even 
ordinarily  observant  persons  must  have  noticed  the  in- 
creasing frequency  of  that  most  melancholy  and  humili- 
ating of  street  spectacles — a drunken  child.  A drunken 
woman  is  a deplorable  presentment  of  human  nature, 
but  a drunken  girl  or  boy  is  a more  pitiful  creature 
still.  We  have  recently  seen  girls  of  apparently  thirteen 
or  fourteen  years  of  age  intoxicated  with  alarming  fre- 
quency. Surely  a short  Act  should  be  passed  to  render 
t tie  supply  of  spirits,  wine,  or  beer  ‘to  be  drunk  on  the 
premises,’  by  a boy  or  girl  under  sixteen  years  of  age,  a 
misdemeanour.  All  would  unite  in  expediting  such  a 
measure.  At  present,  as  it  appears  to  us,  even  respectable 
publicans  have  no  objection  to  supply  drink  to  mere 
children,  although  they  are  conspicuously  zealous  in  thrust- 
ing these  poor  creatures  into  the  street  as  soon  as  the  first 
indication  of  drunkenness  is  apparent.” 

Unless  the  British  Government  soon  attends  to  these 
evils,  it  seems  likely  that  Russia  will  take  precedence  in 
reformatory  legislation  upon  the  drink  question.  Accord- 
ing to  a letter  from  Odessa  to  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson,  dated 
March  21,  1884,  and  published  in  the  Alliance  News 
March  29,  the  new  Russian  project  for  regulating  the  sale 
of  alcoholic  liquors  is  thus  quoted  : 

“ Clause  II.  enacts  that  any  publican  supplying  drink 
to  a person  already  intoxicated,  or  to  young  persons,  is 
liable  to  a fine  of  850  roubles  (about  £85),  and  to  the 
deprivation  of  his  licence  or  patent  for  three  years,  during 
which  period  he  will  not  be  allowed  to  occupy  himself  in 
any  capacity  whatever  connected  with  the  sale  of  liquors 
— not  even  as  a waiter.”  * 

* The  next  two  clauses  are  given  as  follows  : — 

“ Clause  III.  enacts  that  any  publican  supplying  a person  with 
such  a quantity  of  drink  as  to  make  him  irresponsible  for  his  actions, 
and  if  such  person,  after  leaving  the  premises,  be  robbed  or  injured 
by  accident,  the  publican  in  addition  to  the  fine  imposed  under 
clause  II.,  shall  make  good  any  loss  by  robbery  in  the  one  case,  or 
pay  all  medical  expenses  in  the  other. 

“ Clause  IV.  declares  that  where  a person  through  excessive 
drinking  dies  in  a public  drinking-house,  or  if  an  intoxicated  person 


The  Lancet's 
opinion  on 
this  point. 


372 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Early  habits 
and  home 
example 
largely  re- 
sponsible for 
the  preva- 
lence of  this 
vice  among 
adults. 


Sir  William 
Armstrong 
on  pro- 
hibition of 
the  propaga- 
tion of 
poverty  and 
vice. 


Dr.  Norman 
Kerr  and  the 
Dalrymple 
Home. 


There  is  no  doubt  that  the  amount  of  drunkenness  we 
see  among  all  classes  of  people  is  in  a very  great  degree  the 
outcome  of  habits  formed  in  earliest  youth.  The  use  of 
alcohol  is  associated  with  home  scenes  around  the  parents’ 
table  and  with  social  pleasures  ; it  is  carried  on  by  the  very 
passivity  and  plasticity  of  man’s  moral  development,  up 
through  the  whole  period  of  physical  construction  and 
ripening,  until  it  is  fixed  in  and  part  of  his  maturity. 

§ 87.  Another  indirect  prohibitory  measure  that  may 
become  practicable  applies  to  the  prevention,  by  law,  of  pro- 
pagation of  the  race  by  habitual  drunkards.  Why  should 
such  a suggestion  as  this  be  adjudged  out  of  the  pale  of 
consideration  ? Laws  are  made  and  executed,  by  which  life 
itself  and  all  that  is  meant  by  individuality  are  under 
given  circumstances  deemed  forfeit.  Why  should  there  be 
no  laws,  adequately  conceived  and  effected,  which,  might 
practically  abrogate  the  death-penalty  by  guarding  the 
doors  of  life  ? In  an  address  to  the  Elswick  Works  Insti- 
tute, August  8,  1883,  Sir  William  Armstrong  made  the 
following  statement : — “ The  rapid  growth  of  population  is 
adverse  to  moral  development,  and,  by  increasing  com- 
petition, for  instance,  tends  to  increase  poverty.  A crisis 
must  apparently  come  when  further  multiplication  mnst  be 
controlled  by  legislation,  and  the  violation  of  liberty  may 
be  involved.” 

What  Sir  William  Armstrong  thus  impressively  says 
of  the  propagation  of  poverty  is  certainly  applicable  to 
the  propagation  of  habitual  drunkards,  even  without  dwell- 
ing on  the  point  that  poverty  and  drunkenness  produce 
each  other. 

§ 88.  The  brave  efforts  of  Dr.  Norman  Kerr  for  the 
realization  and  extension  of  the  Dalrymple  Home  for  the 
cure  of  habitual  drunkards,  deserve  encouragement  and 
support.  But  the  authority  of  the  management  should  also 
be  enlarged.  The  chief  support  of  this  or  any  similar  insti- 
tution should  devolve  upon  the  State.  Any  one  who  had 
a respectable  medical  certificate  that  he  was  an  eligible 
applicant,  should  be  admitted,  and  the  satisfactory  evidence 


lose  his  life  in  any  drunken  brawl  on  the  premises  or  after  leaving 
(cases,  unhappily, not  uncommon  in  Russia),  the  publican  shall  suffer 
two  years’  imprisonment  and  make  a suitable  provision  for  the  wife 
and  family  or  dependent  relatives  of  the  deceased.” 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


oi  o 


of  a person’s  being  an  habitual  drunkard  should  make  his 
removal  to  an  asylum  for  habitual  drunkards  as  compul- 
sory as  would  be  the  removal  of  a proved  lunatic  to  an 
asylum  for  the  insane,  and  State  supervision  should  be  as 
strict  as  over  our  prisons  and  insane  asylums — absolute 
cure  being  the  condition  on  which  an  inmate  should  be 
allowed  to  re-enter  the  world. 

Those  who  were  present  at  the  inauguration  of  the 
Dairy  tuple  Home  (October  29,  1883) , and  heard  the  earnest 
addresses  by  Sir  Charles  Tapper,  ex-premier  of  Nova  Scotia, 
who  instanced  the  model  management  and  grand  success 
of  such  institutions  in  America;*  of  Sir  Spencer  Wells, 

* These  details  are  from  the  Temperance  Record  (November  1, 
1883)  : “ The  Hon.  Conrad  Dillon,  who  has  recently  returned  from  a 
rapid  trip  through  the  United  States,  has  favoured  us  with  a few 
notes  of  visits  paid  by  him  to  four  institutions  for  the  reclamation 
and  reformation  of  the  victims  of  strong  drink. 

“ At  San  Francisco,  California,  the  Inebriates’  Home  is  under  the 
management  of  a body  of  trustees  who  are  recognized  by  the  State, 
and  have  power  to  receive  and  detain  persons  for  certain  periods. 
The  home  is  situated  in  a pleasant  part  of  the  city,  and  has  accommo- 
dation for  about  sixty  or  seventy  inmates,  about  two-thirds  of  whom 
are  males.  Many  of  the  patients  go  voluntarily,  but  others  are  com- 
mitted under  a judge’s  order  for  a term  of  twenty  days.  Dr.  R.  H. 
McDonald,  the  president  of  the  Pacific  Bank,  an  active  temperance 
reformer  and  philanthropist,  is  the  chairman  of  the  trustees,  who  are 
assisted  by  Dr.  Jewell,  the  resident  physician.  The  patients  are 
detained  for  a few  days  in  the  hospital,  after  which  they  have  access 
to  the  reading-rooms  and  other  more  cheerful  parts  of  the  building. 
The  women’s  department  is  of  course  entirely  separated,  though  under 
the  same  roof.  No  report  is  published  of  the  home,  and  every  effort 
is  made  to  avoid  publicity,  which  might  deter  sufferers  from  taking 
advantage  of  it. 

“ The  Washingtonian  Home  of  Chicago  is  somewhat  larger.  Here 
the  average  number  of  inmates  (all  male)  is  about  eighty,  the  total 
number  of  admissions  last  year  having  been  six  hundred  and  seventy, 
of  whom  one  hundred  and  two  were  police-court  cases.  The  com- 
mittee of  directors  have  power  to  admit  and  detain  prisoners  com- 
mitted to  the  bridewell  for  “ intemperance,  drunkenness,  or  any 
misdemeanour  caused  thereby,”  for  the  term  of  their  sentence.  The 
patients  are  required  to  contribute  according  to  their  means,  though 
many  are  admitted  free.  On  the  whole  nearly  sixty  per  cent,  of  the 
expense  is  contributed  by  the  inmates.  The  special  feature  of  this 
home  is  that  an  attempt  is  made  not  merely  to  recover,  but  to  educate 
the  patients.  During  the  first  fortnight,  as  a rule,  they  remain  in  the 
home,  and  attend  a series  of  lectures  on  physiology,  especially  relating 
to  the  effects  of  narcotics  and  stimulants  on  the  various  organs,  as 


374 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


president  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  ; Dr.  Hare,  president 
of  tlie  Metropolitan  Branch  of  the  British  Medical  Associa- 
tion, and  other  well-known  workers  in  the  temperance 
cause,  cannot  help  feeling  that  it  is  the  great  duty  of 
Englishmen  to  urge  adequate  legislation  on  this  subject. 

well  as  the  effect  of  alcohol  on  the  moral  affections  and  passions.  Pro- 
fessor Wilkins,  the  superintendent,  whose  heart  and  soul  is  in  the 
work,  soon  makes  an  impression  on  all  who  have  the  slightest  desire 
to  reform,  and,  by  his  kindly  sympathy  and  advice,  revives  hope  in 
the  breast  of  many  a poor  victim.  If  sufficient  progress  is  made  at 
the  end  of  a fortnight,  the  patient  goes  out  during  the  day  to  his 
employment,  returning  for  meals,  and  thus  gradually  slides  back  to 
his  place  in  the  outer  world.  The  experience  meeting  on  Sunday 
evening  is  a serious  affair,  and  though  the  histories  related  are  often 
sad,  many  successful  cases  starting  from  declarations  made  there  in 
years  gone  by,  testify  to  the  value  of  the  work.  Friends  of  the 
inmates  and  former  inmates  are  welcome  at  the  meetings. 

“ The  Martha  Washington  Home,  which  is  situated  about  six  miles 
out  of  the  town,  is  conducted  by  the  same  board,  and  though  only 
opened  recently,  gives  promise  of  that  reward  which  always  attends 
the  untiring  efforts  of  thoroughly  earnest  workers,  guided  alone  by  the 
highest  religious  motives.  The  money  raised  by  licences  in  Chicago 
and  Cooks  County,  amounting  to  abont  £1,200  a year,  is  entirely 
devoted  to  these  two  institutions. 

“ The  New  York  Christian  Home  for  Intemperate  Men,  which  was 
till  lately  presided  over  by  the  Hon.  W.  E.  Dodge,  has  recently  moved 
into  a fine  new  building  at  the  corner  of  the  Madison  Avenue,  and 
86th  Street.  Here  the  committee  have  power  to  receive  and  detain 
inebriate  men  who  enter  voluntarily  for  a -period  not  exceeding  sixty 
days,  and  every  effort  is  made  during  that  time  for  their  “ physical, 
social,  mental,  and  spiritual”  improvement.  The  institution  claims 
that  of  the  nine  hundred  men  who  have  been  received  since  1877,  a 
majority  give  every  evidence  of  living  consistent  lives.  This  result 
is  attributed  to  the  prominent  position  given  to  religious  instruction 
and  exhortation,  and,  indeed,  unless  patients  express  a desire  to 
reform  they  are  not  allowed  to  remain. 

“ The  value  of  these  homes  cannot  be  accurately  estimated,  for 
many  who  have  benefited  most  by  them  follow  the  example  of  the 
nine  lepers.  That  the  work  is  of  great  practical  value  cannot  be 
doubted,  though  many  will  avail  themselves  of  the  relief  and  then 
return  straight  to  then-  old  habits.  The  stay  in  all  is  too  limited  for 
much  good  to  be  expected  in  old  cases,  but  the  easy  access  and 
prospect  of  returning  quickly  to  the  world  no  doubt  induces  many  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  treatment  at  an  earlier  stage  than  they  would 
if  the  seclusion  were  longer.  The  facility  for  a recommencement  of 
work  which  is  impossible  in  a country  home,  is  an  important  feature, 
as  well  as  the  opportunities  offered  for  joining  temperance  societies 
before  throwing  off  the  restraint  of  the  home.” 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


375 


In  his  report  (March,  1884,  about  four  months  after 
its  inauguration)  on  the  working  of  the  Dalrymple  Home, 
made  to  the  Medical  Temperance  Association,  Dr.  Ken- 
said — 

“ Without  an  exception,  all  whose  terms  have  as  yet 
expired  have  applied  to  be  allowed  to  remain  longer- — as 
long,  in  fact,  as  financial  or  business  considerations  will 
admit  of. 

“ With  all  this  success,  there  is  one  regret,  the  necessity 
of  refusing  many  applications  for  admission.  If  the  sum 
of  £2,500  were  forthcoming,  accommodation  for  twelve 
more  patients  could  be  added,  and  we  rely  on  the  prompt 
and  liberal  support  .of  the  Christian  and  philanthropic 
public.  Were  the  committee  supplied  with  adequate  funds, 
they  would  gladly  establish  a Home  for  Females,  and  a 
third  Home  for  Habitual  Drunkards  of  very  limited 
means.  To  free  the  existing  Dalrymple  Home  from  debt 
£2,000  is  still  needed.” 

Dr.  Thomas  Hawksley  is  quoted  in  Church  of  England  d,..  Thomas 
Temperance  Society  (October  6),  as  saying  : — “ It  is  useless  ^'^’e^fou 
to  tell  these  fallen  and  unhappy  ones  of  the  virtues  of  habitual 
temperance;  their  consciences  are  dead,  and  an  impervious  dnmkards- 
and  insatiable  demon  has  possession  of  them.  You  might 
as  well  attempt  to  reason  -with  a hopeless  lunatic.  Until 
the  laws  of  the  country  treat  this  form  of  madness  like 
other  lunacy,  and  deal  with  it  by  a sufficiently  long  sus- 
tained coercion,  so  long,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  there  will  be 
found  a self-denying  and  heroic  band  of  men  and  women 
who,  by  a vow  of  total  abstinence  faithfully  carried  out, 
show  the  right  way  to  their  weaker  brethren,  and  demon- 
strate how7  perfectly  health  and  happiness  may  be  sustained 
without  the  smallest  aid  from  agencies  which  to  so  great 
an  extent  are  proved  to  be  the  facilis  descensus  to  all  the 
other  sins  and  crimes  of  our  fallen  moral  nature.” 

The  Church  of  England  Temperance  Chronicle, November  The  Lambeth 
15,  1883,  says  : — “At  a meeting  of  the  Lambeth  Board  of  Guardians  on 
Guardians  on  Wednesday,  it  was  moved — ‘ That  this  board,  the  necessity 
being  deeply  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  provision  theHaMtuai 
being  made  for  the  more  stringent  dealing  wuth  habitual  Drunkard’s 

o b _ o o Act 

drunkards,  do  memorialize  the  Local  Government  Board 
to  take  such  steps  as  will  lead  to  the  law  being  so  amended 
as  to  give  power  to  local  authorities  or  boards  of  guardians 


376 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


to  establish  and  maintain  inebriate  retreats,  either  in  con- 
nection with  existing  workhouses  or  asylums  or  in  separate 
establishments,  as  may  be  thought  most  desirable ; and, 
further,  that  power  be  given  to  magistrates  to  commit 
habitual  drunkards  to  such  retreats  with  or  without  their 
consent,  provision  being  made  for  the  recovery  of  the  cost 
of  their  maintenance  when  it  is  ascertained  that  persons 
restrained  have  means  for  their  own  support,  or  that  there 
are  relatives  or  guardians  who  under  the  existing  law  are 
liable  and  able,  wholly  or  partially,  to  maintain  them.’ — 
The  motion  was  carried,  there  being  only  one  dissentient.” 
The  need  of  § 89-  One  powerful  and  comprehensive  initiatory  mea- 
in  ter  national  slire  for  optional  and  prohibitory  legislation,  for  which  the 
view  of  times  seem  ripe,  is  that  of  the  establishment  of  international 
driniTiegis-  relations  on  the  drink  question.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
lation.  ° that  for  England  to  inaugurate  a system  of  drastic  liquor 
legislation  without  such  an  understanding  with  other 
countries  would  seriously  affect  international  commercial 
relations;  i.e.,  if  those  countries  in  which  such  legislation 
would  most  interfere  with  the  existing  order  of  things,  had 
not  first  been  taken  into  England’s  confidence  and  invited 
to  co-operate,  and  had  their  just  demands  considered  and, 
so  far  as  possible,  satisfied. 

But  having  faithfully  made  these  efforts,  England 
ought  then  to  carry  her  scheme  into  effect.  And  there 
should  be  no  question  of  compensation  for  direct  losses  to 
other  countries,  and  on  exactly  the  same  grounds  and  for 
the  same  reasons  that  no  compensation — except  such  as 
lies  in  special  opportunities  in  proper  fields  of  commerce 
- — ought  to  be  made  to  dispossessed  publicans.  For 
if  publicans  within  the  country  are  compensated,  then, 
logically  and  upon  the  same  scale,  ought  compensation  to 
be  extended  to  foreign  traders. 

The  need  of  Indeed,  there  are  certain  measures  which  only  an 
agreement1'^  international  agreement  would  make  possible,  such,  for 
r°i  slf  gene"  instance,  as  the  right  to  suppress  the  liquor  traffic  at  sea. 
sion  of  liquor  In  the  International  Conference  at  the  Hague  in  1881,  the 
sea?C°ntIie  tearful  consequences  in  shipwrecks  and  loss  of  life  due  to 
this  cause  were  pointed  out,  and  a resolution  passed  to  try 
and  induce  the  respective  governments  to  put  an  end  to 
that  form  of  the  traffic ; and  it  was  recently  stated  by  a 
correspondent  of  the  Liverpool  Journal  of  Commerce  that 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


377 


the  British  Government  are  taking  steps  to  put  an  end  to 
this  traffic  on  the  North  Sea,  and  to  that  end  would  seek 
to  arrive  at  an  understanding’  with  the  other  countries  who 
are  parties  to  the  North  Sea  Fisheries  Convention. 

International  exchange  of  information  as  to  the  various 
legislative  measures  taken,  the  commissioning  of  official 
representatives  to  international  conferences  on  the  drink 
question,  and  other  steps  of  a cognate  nature,  would  all  be 
means  for  promoting  the  good  work  of  bringing  the  nations 
into  a closer  bond  of  common  fellowship,  and  be,  at  the 
same  time,  tending  to  bring  about  a most  healthful  spirit 
of  international  emulation  for  good  legislation. 

§ 90.  Alcohol  is  so  potent  and  subtle  a destroyer  of  The  need  for 
the  best  qualities  m man  and  the  race;  so  much  more  meutofa 
formidable  and  complex  in  its  effects  than  is  any  other  P^roanent 
foe  to  man’s  physical,  mental,  and  moral  health — to  his  commission 
happiness  and  usefulness  on  earth — that  this  Government 
ought  to  insist  upon  the  establishment  of  a permanent  whole 
national  commission,  in  every  way  fitted  and  provided  aicohoi°and 
with  the  necessary  means  for  investigating  the  w'hole  man- 
question  of  alcohol  and  man. 

It  is  a far  greater  evil  than  that  of  poverty,  and,  in 
fact,  as  was  pointed  out  in  chapter  x.,  poverty  w-ould 
hardly  prove  a considerable  problem  to  a sober  nation,  and 
even  if  it  were,  a sober  nation  would  be  amply  adequate 
to  cope  with  it.  If  the  Royal  Commission  for  Housing  the 
Poor  will  study  the  cause,  the  all-promoting-  cause,  of 
poverty — drink — and  probe  and  expose  this  source  of  evil 
in  a thorough  conscientious  manner,  then  wrill  its  work 
be,  and  deserve  to  be,  blessed  indeed,  and  its  members  wall 
reap  for  themselves  the  rich  harvest  of  the  people’s  con- 
fidence and  gratitude.  But  this  should  only  precede,  not 
take  the  place  of,  the  establishment  of  a permanent  official 
commission  of  inquiry  into  the  whole  drink  question, 
which  should  annually  issue  a full  repoi’t  of  the  results  of 
its  investigation,  the  report  to  be  sold  at  cost  price  all 
over  the  land.  The  commission  established  in  Switzerland 
to  this  end  might  furnish  suggestions  for  formation, 
character,  duties,  responsibilities,  etc. 

Among  reforms  needed  to  facilitate  effective  legislation 
generally  would  be  that  of  an  enactment  by  which  members 
directly  interested  in  any  legislation  should  de  facto  be 


378 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


disqualified  from  voting  in  such  cases  ; just  as  much,  and 
for  precisely  the  same  reasons,  that  interested  parties  are 
excluded  from  juries. 

§ 91.  Legislative  and  social  efforts — essential  fore- 
runners of  direct  temperance  legislation — have  been  for 
some  years  continually  increasing  in  number.  One  of 
these,  known  as  the  coffee  tavern  and  street  stall  move- 
ment, has  already  become  very  popular.* 

* It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the  public  mind  should  be 
disabused  of  the  idea  that  the  various  non-alcoholic  drinks  are 
substitutes  for  alcohol,  or  that  any  such  substitutes  are  required. 
Alcohol  is  a poison  through  and  through;  the  real  substitutes  for  it 
are  also  poisons,  viz.,  ethers,  chloral,  etc.  The  Son  of  Temperance 
(April,  1884)  makes  these  pertinent  remarks — 

“ When  a man  who  sticks  to  alcohol  sees  an  abstainer  drinking  a 
’done  or  an  ’ade,  he  naturally  concludes  that  the  whole  question  at 
issue  is  simply  one  as  to  the  sort  of  tipple.  The  alcoholist  declares 
his  weak  wine  to  be  no  viler  a compound  nor  more  hurtful  than  the 
stuff  drunk  as  a substitute  by  the  abstainer.  And  in  this  particular 
he  is  not  very  far  wrong,  for  some  of  the  so-called  1 teetotal  drinks  ’ 
are  the.  grossest  of  frauds  upon  the  stomach  as  well  as  the  pocket. 
Drinking  them  thus  confuses  the  issue,  and  makes  it  a question  of 
the  sort  of  tipple,  rather  than  one  of  the  disuse  of  a worse  than 
worthless  drink.  It  does  even  more.  The  habit  of  using  a substitute 
gives  an  impression  that  there  is  a natural  want.  Taste  and  expense 
then  become  important  factors.  If  there  be  no  saving  in  the  latter 
the  former  prevails,  and  a lapse  is  the  consequence.  Many  a man 
who  has  by  his  own  habits  thus  obscured  the  issue  has  been  lost  to 
the  movement.  Then,  again,  quite  apart  from  economic  and  physical 
considerations,  there  is  the  habit  of  drinking  for  the  mere  purpose  of 
drinking.  Substitutes  perpetuate  this  ridiculous  and  pernicious 
habit.  What  greater  folly  can  be  conceived  than  liquoring- up  at  all 
hours  of  the  day,  and  for  every  possible  excuse  ! Substitutes  supply 
the  means,  and  the  result  is  a waste  of  time  and  energy  by  continuance 
in  the  old  practice.” 

Among  healthful  invigorating  drinks,  besides  water,  are:  Hot  milk, 
of  which  the  Louisville  Medical  News  (November  10,  1883)  says, 
“ Milk  that  is  heated  too  much  above  100°  Fahr.  loses,  for  the  time, 
a degree  of  its  sweetness  and  density ; but  no  one  fatigued  by  over- 
exertion of  body  or  mind  who  has  ever  experienced  the  reviving 
influence  of  a tumbler  of  this  beverage  as  hot  as  it  can  be  sipped, 
will  willingly  forego  a resort  to  it  because  of  its  having  been  rendered 
somewhat  less  acceptable  to  the  palate.  The  promptness  with  which 
its  cordial  influence  is  felt  is  indeed  surprising.  Some  portions  seem 
to  be  digested  and  appropriated  almost  immediately ; and  many  who 
fancy  that  they  need  alcoholic  stimulants  when  exhausted  by  labour 
of  brain  or  body,  will  find  in  this  simple  draught  an  equivalent  that 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


379 


The  British  coffee  tavern  temperance  movement  seems 
to  have  had  its  origin  in  the  novel  and  very  noble  efforts 

will  be  as  abundantly  satisfying  and  more  enduring  in  its  effects.” 
And  oatmeal  dririk,  the  late  Dr.  Parkes’  receipt  for  which  is  given 
here  as  found  in  the  Church  of  England  Temperance  Chronicle  (June 
9,  1883)  : “ The  proportions  are  Jib.  of  oatmeal  to  two  or  three  quarts 
of  water,  according  to  the  heat  of  the  day,  and  the  work  and  thirst ; 
it  should  be  well  boiled,  and  then  an  ounce  or  one  and  a half  ounces 
of  brown  sugar  added.  If  you  find  it  thicker  than  you  like,  add  three 
quarts  of  water.  Before  drinking  it  shake  up  the  oatmeal  well 
through  the  liquid.  In  summer  drink  this  cold  ; in  winter  hot.  You 
will  find  this  not  only  quenches  thirst,  but  will  give  you  more  strength 
and  endurance  than  any  other  drink.  If  you  cannot  boil  it,  you  can 
take  a little  oatmeal  mixed  with  cold  water  and  sugar,  but  this  is  not 
so  good  ; always  boil  it  if  you  can.  If  at  any  time  you  have  to  make 
a very  long  day,  as  in  harvest,  and  cannot  stop  for  meals,  increase 
the  oatmeal  to  Jib.  or  even  fib.,  and  the  water  to  three  quarts  if  you 
ai’e  likely  to  be  very  thirsty.  If  you  cannot  get  oatmeal,  wheat-flour 
will  do,  but  not  quite  so  well.  Those  who  tried  this  recipe  last  year 
found  that  they  could  get  through  more  work  than  when  using  beer, 
and  were  stronger  and  healthier  at  the  end  of  the  harvest.  Cold  tea 
and  skim  milk  are  also  found  to  be  better  than  beer,  but  not  equal  to 
the  oatmeal  drink.” 

An  excellent  promoter  of  easy  digestion  is  malt  extract.  Barley 
possesses  such  an  abundance  of  diastase  or  starch-digesting  principle, 
that  malt  or  an  extract  from  it,  if  properly  prepared,  is  not  only 
nutritive  by  reason  of  the  malt  sugar,  dextrine,  and  phosphates 
which  it  contains,  but  highly  digestive  of  other  starchy  foods  also,  as 
bread,  potatoes,  etc.  Many  persons  who  are  aware  of  the  nutritive 
and  digestive  properties  of  barley  malt,  l'esort  to  beer  and  other 
fermented  alcoholic  liquors,  prepared  in  part  from  malt,  as  the  most 
available  or  proper  preparation.  But  this  course  is  a most  mistaken 
one  ; for  in  the  first  place,  in  the  process  of  boiling  the  sweet  wort 
or  infusion  of  malt  for  the  manufacture  of  beer,  all  the  digestive 
properties  are  entirely  destroyed,  as  diastase  is  rendered  quite  inert 
by  a temperature  of  130°.  Therefore  beer  possesses  no  ability  to  aid 
digestion,  and  the  alcohol  it  contains  we  know  to  be  a retarder  of 
digestion.  Secondly,  in  brewing,  the  nutritive  principles  are  almost 
all  sacrificed  by  fermentation  for  the  production  of  alcohol.  We 
find,  therefore,  in  beer  hardly  anything  whatever  of  the  nutritive 
or  digestive  beneficial  properties  of  malt,  but  simply  a solution  of 
weak  alcohol  in  a great  deal  of  water,  with  such  other  additions  as 
brewers  chose  to  make  for  the  sake  of  colour  or  flavour.  In  order  to 
preserve  the  nutritive  value  of  malt,  Prof.  Baron  Liebig  originated 
the  idea  of  evaporating  the  infusion  or  sweet  wort  to  the  consistency 
of  a syrup,  in  which  condition  it  would  keep  indefinitely.  This  pro- 
cess, however,  being  conducted  in  an  open  pan  or  kettle,  and  by 
boiling,  the  digestive  principle  was  entirely  destroyed.  By  the  Kepler 
process,  the  evaporation  of  sweet  wort  is  conducted  at  a low  temper- 


The  origin 
and  estab- 
lishment of 
temperance 
coffee- 
taverns  in 
England. 
Their 
character 
and  use- 
fulness. 


380 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  promi- 
nent part 
taken  by 
Mrs.  George 
Bayly  in  this 
movement. 


Reasons  for 
the  poor 
results  of 
the  coffee 
taverns  in 
London. 


of  Captain  and  Mrs.  George  Bayly.  In  1853  Mrs.  Bayly 
liad  started  a series  of  Mothers’  Meetings  in  Hotting  Dale 
and  its  vicinity  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  mutual  assist- 
ance in  saving  young  men  from  the  drink-shops,  and 
helping  those  women  who  suffered  because  of  a drinking 
husband  or  father. 

It  was  finally  resolved  at  these  meetings  that  steps 
must  be  taken  to  reach  the  drinking  men  directly,  and 
in  relation  to  this,  Captain  Bayly,  writing  to  me,  April  11, 
1884,  says,  “ On  the  1st  of  February,  1860,  Mrs.  Bayly 
invited  sixteen  of  the  most  notorious  drunkards  in  the 
Potteries  (Kensington)  to  tea  and  spend  the  evening, 
the  result  being  that  five  signed  the  pledge,  and  in  the 
course  of  the  year  more  than  one  hundred  signed.  . . . At 
a meeting  a man  said,  ‘We  want  a public-house  without 
the  drink  ! ’ and  on  March  16th  one  was  opened  and  called 
the  ‘Workmen’s  Hall.’  ” 

The  “ public-house  without  the  drink  ” became  the 
coffee  taverns  of  which,  particularly  during  the  last  two  or 
three  years,  a great  number  have  been  established  all  over 
the  land,  owing  chiefly  to  the  exertions  of  the  Church  of 
England  Temperance  Society.  That  great  good  has  been 
accomplished  through  the  agency  of  these  taverns  and 
stalls  cannot  be  doubted ; but  while  in  Leeds  and  other 
places  the  coffee  taverns  pay  fifteen  or  twenty  per  cent., 
in  Jjondon  the  results  have  been  most  unsatisfactory, 
because  of  the  poor  furnishing  and  wretched  management 
of  these  places. 

At  a meeting  (March  15,  1884)  of  the  relieving  officers 

ature  in  vacuo,  not  exceeding  100°  Fahr.,  so  that  the  diastase  is  fully 
preserved;  and  in  this  product  all  the  valuable  properties  of  malt 
are  preserved  in  concentrated  form,  viz.,  diastase,  dextrine,  malt 
sugar,  phosphates,  and  albumenoids,  all  highly  necessary  to  the 
human  physical  growth  and  health.  The  Medical  Press  and  Circular 
(London),  in  reporting  on  this  subject,  says  that  the  Kepler  Extract 
of  Malt  is  reliable,  and  is  manufactured  in  such  careful  manner  as  to 
ensure  the  preservation  of  its  valuable  constituents.  It  is  very 
delicious  to  the  taste,  and  has  been  found  by  analysis  to  be  exceedingly 
rich  in  diastase,  and  consequently  is  a valuable  digestive  agent.  The 
Lancet  reports  upon  the  Kepler  extract  as  the  best  known,  and  in 
this  country  (England)  the  largest  used  extract  of  malt.  It  is  as 
distinct  an  advance  in  therapeutics  as  was  the  introduction  of  cod- 
liver  oil.  Used  with  milk,  with  water,  or  with  soda-water,  it  makes  a 
nourishing,  refreshing  drink. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


381 


of  metropolitan  unions  invited  by  the  committee  of  the 
National  Temperance  League,  “Mr.  Birch,  for  sixteen 
years  a relieving  officer  in  the  Holbom  union  district,  said 
he  thought  that  drink  produced  three-fourths  of  the 
pauperism  with  which  they  had  to  contend.  . . . He 
sincerely  hoped  that  the  friends  of  temperance  would 
endeavour  to  find  some  really  palatable  drink  to  take  the 
people  off  intoxicating  beverages.  As  to  the  coffee  taverns, 
the  stuff  they  sold  was  not  worth  drinking.  The  one  they 
opened  in  Gray’s  Inn  Road  sold  articles  which  the  British 
working  man  could  not  be  expected  to  consume,  and  it  was 
now  shut  up.  . . . A relieving  officer  from  the  Whitechapel 
district  said  he  was  glad  the  first  speaker  had  put  the 
estimate  of  the  drink-caused  pauperism  at  three-fourths. 
It  was  a low  estimate,  but  it  was  one  with  which  they 
could  all  agree.  Had  it  been  put  as  high  as  nine-tenths, 
he  personally  should  not  have  objected  to  it.  . . . Mr. 
Wright  said  that  he  had  an  all-round  experience  of 
London,  and  could  testify  that  the  great  cause  of  pauperism 
was  drink.  Another  cause  was  the  wretched  homes  in 
which  the  people  lived,  making  the  public-house  the  only 
bit  of  comfort  they  could  get.  His  experience  of  the  coffee 
tavern  was  anything  but  to  their  credit.  The  articles  sold 
at  them  were  so  bad  that  he  did  not  wonder  at  people 
forsaking  them  for  the  public-house.  There  was  one  man 
doing  an  immense  and  successful  work  for  temperance,  and 
that  was  Mr.  Lockhart.  The  viands  he  sold  were  worth 
the  money  he  charged  for  them,  and  his  establishments 
were  greatly  appreciated  by  the  poor.  Let  the  coffee 
taverns  imitate  his  method,  and  they  would  succeed.”  * 
Recently  a number  of  interesting  letters  on  this  subject 
have  appeared  in  the  Daily  Chronicle , on  which,  in  its 
editorial,  April  21,  1884,  it  comments  as  follows : — ■ 

“ That  the  Coffee  Palace  Movement,  in  the  metropolis 
at  least,  has  not  been  so  brilliantly  successful  as  its  pro- 
moters anticipated  must,  we  fear,  be  admitted.  We  have 
received  number’s  of  letters  from  correspondents  complain- 
ing of  the  wretched  accommodation  provided  and  the 
doubtful  quality  of  the  refreshments  supplied  at  many  of 
the  establishments  described  as  coffee  palaces.  ...  It  would 


The  Daily 
Chronicle  on 
the  manage- 
ment of  these 
establish- 
ments. 


* Temperance  Record , March  20,  1884. 


382 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


be  unfair  to  deny  that  some  of  these  temperance  restaurants 
are  admirably  conducted  and  well-found  in  every  respect, 
but,  as  a rule,  the  coffee  palaces  are  scarcely  places  to 
which  a philosopher  would  resort  in  order  to  find  justifi- 
cation for  taking  a cheerful  view  of  the  problem  of 
existence.  When  we  remember  that  the  great  object 
of  the  coffee  palace  movement  was  to  provide  counter 
attractions  to  the  public-houses,  and  thus  to  mark  the 
commencement  of  a new  era  in  the  history  of  social 
recreation  and  enjoyment,  we  cannot  admit  that  the  object 
has  been  fulfilled.  The  muddy-brown  liquid  sold  for  coffee 
at  the  coffee  palaces  is  not  calculated  to  impress  people 
with  the  advantages  of  a temperance  dietary.  If  the 
British  workman  is  to  be  persuaded  to  give  up  his  beer,  he 
must  be  offered  something  better  than  a washy  solution  of 
horse-beans,  rotten  dates,  and  burnt  figs.  Genuine  coffee 
can  be  brewed  for  the  price  charged  for  the  adulterated 
rubbish  which,  if  our  numerous  correspondents  are  to  be 
believed,  is  supplied  at  most  of  the  coffee  palaces.  We 
call  attention  to  this  matter  in  the  interests  of  temperance, 
and  should  be  sorry  to  say  anything  detrimental  to  the 
cause.  We  do  not  see  how  it  is  to  prosper  with  the 
assistance  of  adulteration.  Coffee  palaces  cannot  be  suc- 
cessful unless  they  supply  the  public  with  coffee.  We 
trust,  therefore,  that  the  promoters  of  the  temperance 
movement  will  endeavour  to  put  a stop  to  the  distribution 
of  the  objectionable  stuff  at  present  sold  at  their  ‘palaces.’ 
The  buildings  themselves,  too,  would  be  better  adapted  to 
the  purpose  for  which  they  were  designed  if  an  appearance 
of  cheerfulness,  comfort,  and  cleanliness  were  imparted  to 
them.” 

To  be  completely  successful,  English  coffee  taverns 
must  supply  the  best  coffee,  tea,  etc.,  at  the  cheapest 
rates,  and  to  enable  them  to  do  this,  the  duty  on  tea, 
coffee,  cocoa,  etc.,  ought  to  be  removed,  and  Java  coffee 
should  be  as  easily  obtainable  as  any  other  kinds.  The 
ladies  wdio  superintend  these  taverns  should  thoroughly 
understand  how  to  prepare  the  drinks ; a book  of  com- 
plaint of  management  should  be  on  hand  at  all  taverns,  in 
which  complaints  could  be  entered  and  subscribed  to  by 
witnesses  or  partners  in  the  grievance.  Friends  and  sup- 
porters of  temperance  should  take  a personal  interest  in 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 

the  attractiveness,  propriety,  excellence,  and  cheapness  of 
such  taverns,  securing  for  them  the  best  bread  and  butter, 
cold  meats,  cheese,  coffee,  tea,  cocoa,  chocolate,  milk,  etc. 

They  should  have  neat  reading-rooms,  with  the  prin- 
cipal daily  and  weekly  papers,  magazines,  and  sterling  light 
and  simple  literature  in  plenty,  not  simply  such  books  as 
can  be  got  at  cheapest,  at  an  auction,  or  given  by  some- 
body without  care  or  selection ; on  the  contrary,  it  should 
be  an  absolute  condition  that  none  but  thoroughly  whole- 
some books  should  be  admitted,  i.e.,  upon  the  decision  of 
a competent  committee.  There  should  be  special  meetings 
and  gatherings  so  arranged  as  to  secure  not  only  social 
entertainment,  but  strengthening  of  the  main  purpose 
which  brings  them  together.*  For  unless  the  coffee  tavern 
outbids  the  conveniences  of  the  liquor  shop,  it  will  be 
beaten  in  the  race. 

But  in  order  to  meet  the  great  requirement  of  the  time 
— a substitute  for  the  public-house  ; a substitute  not  in  the 
sense  of  equivalent , but  a substitute  in  the  sense  that  it 
shall  displace  and  victoriously  supplant  the  public-house 
— why  should  not  the  coffee-tavern  system  be  merged  in 
a more  comprehensive  plan,  by  which  not  only  healthy 
drinks,  good  amusements,  and  wholesome  literature,  but 
the  entire  physiological  needs  of  man  could  be  amply  and 
cheaply  supplied  P 

One  of  the  first  efforts  in  this  direction  was  made  at 
the  close  of  the  last  century  by  the  famous  scientist  and 
philanthropist,  Count  Bumford,  who  invented  the  well- 
known  Rumford  soup.  The  institutions  supplying  the 
Rumford  soup,  during  1818,  and  again  in  1846,  1847,  and 
1848,  did  much  to  save  Germany  from  the  horrors  of  a 

* The  Echo  (October  11,  1883)  mentions  a good  movement  in 
behalf  of  boys,  as  follows  : — 

“To-morrow  a meeting  will  be  held  at  the  Mansion  House  to 
promote  the  formation  of  a Working  Lads’  Institute  for  East  London. 
The  object  is  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  working  lads  of  the 
Metropolis  by  establishing  in  those  neighbourhoods  where  large 
numbers  are  employed  or  reside,  institutes  where  such  youths  may 
profitably  spend  their  evening  hours,  and  so  be  saved  from  tempta- 
tions and  snares  of  the  streets,  the  public-houses,  music-halls,  and 
1 penny  gaffs.’  In  connection  with  each  institute  will  be  provided 
healthy  recreation,  good  and  useful  reading,  and  the  means  of 
educational  and  moral  improvement.” 


Suggestion 
for  merging 
the  coffee- 
tavern  pro- 
ject into  that 
of  the  steam 
kitchen. 


First  efforts 
and  progress 
of  the  steam 
kitchen 
movement 
on  the  conti- 
nent. 

Mrs.  Lina 
Morgen- 
stern's  steam 
kitchen  in 
Berlin. 


384 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Mr.  L.  0. 
Smith’s 
steam 
kitchen  in 
Stockholm, 
and  his  own 
account  of 
its  import- 
ance and 
work. 


general  famine.  In  1866  Mrs.  Lina  Morgenstern  * built 
her  large  and  now  famous  steam  kitchen,  where  all  food 
is  prepared  scrupulously  in  accordance  with  the  highest 
sanitary  and  scientific  methods,  is  served  daintily  on  the 
premises,  or  sent  to  order,  and  in  all  cases  sold  at  the 
cheapest  possible  rates.  This  experiment  is  now  being  tried 
in  Stockholm  with  marked  success  by  Mr.  L.  O.  Smith, 
the  “ ex-Brandy  King  ” of  Sweden,  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  of  its  success,  if  properly  introduced,  in  England. 

Co-operation  is  the  watchword  of  the  hour.  We  practise 
it  with  advantage  in  commercial,  industrial,  and  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  why  should  not  co-operative  food  prepara- 
tion and  sale  prove  successful  ? Indeed,  so  far  as  the 
masses  of  both  head  and  hand  labourers  are  concerned, 
there  is  every  reason  to  expect  that  such  co-operation  will 
prove  in  almost  every  respect  more  advantageous  than  any 
other  form. 

I have  not  the  space  here  for  treating  this  great 
question  in  detail,  I can  only  throw  out  a hint  or  two,  and 
cite  briefly  from  Mr.  Smith’s  experiences. 

It  is  impossible  that  food  should  be  prepared  either  as 
well  or  as  cheaply  in  the  labourer’s  home,  with  its  generally 
imperfect  domestic  facilities,  as  it  could  be  in  a large  steam 
kitchen  specially  and  skilfully  constructed,  and  stocked 
with  utensil  and  material  for  feeding  thousands  of  persons. 
And  while  poor  and  badly  cooked  food  notably  prepares 
the  stomach  to  crave  for  strong  drink,  nutritious,  easily 
digested,  and  well-cooked  food  as  notably  serves  to  render 
the  system  less  tolerant  of  strong  drink,  and  good  health 
means  temperate  desires,  better  work,  and  that  self-reliance 
which  makes  a man  able  to  take  proper  care  of  himself, 
and  be  helpful  to  others  also.  From  Mr.  Smith’s  views  of 
the  working  and  results  of  the  steam  kitchen  system,  as 
reported  in  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  (April  3,  1884),  I make 
the  following  quotations  : — 

“ Of  the  expenditure  of  a working  man,  15  per  cent, 
only  goes  in  house-rent,  while  60  per  cent,  goes  in  food. 
Therefore,  if  you  provide  every  working  man  with  a free 
house  for  ever,  the  effect  is  only  equal  to  saving  him 


* Die  Volk  sliiclcen  Wirtschaftliche  Anstalten  fur  billige  nahrende 
u SchmackhafteMassenspeisung  im  Krieg  u Frieden.  Lina  Morgenstern. 
Berlin,  1883. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


38 


15  per  cent,  of  his  wages.  But  if  you  can  make  a radical 
reformation  in  his  food,  you  have  a much  greater  margin 
to  play  upon.  If  you  could  provide  him  with  food  twice 
as  nourishing  as  that  which  he  gets  now,  so  that  he  only 
needs  to  buy  half  as  much  of  it,  or  if  you  give  him  as 
much  food  as  he  gets  at  present  at  half  the  price,  you  save 
him  at  one  stroke  30  per  cent,  of  his  wages,  or  twice  as 
much  as  the  whole  of  his  house-rent.  And  it  can  be 
done.”  * 

As  to  the  best  system  of  cooking,  Mr.  Smith  says : 

“ I have  examined  almost  every  system  of  cooking  that 
is  known  to  civilized  man  ; and  1 have  now  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  no  system  is  so  good  as  that  of  cooking  by 
steam  water  bath,  so  economical,  so  efficient.  In  cooking 
the  great  thing  is  temperature  ; and  by  this  means  it  is 
possible  either  to  roast  or  to  boil  each  description  of  food 
at  the  exact  degree  of  the  thermometer  that  is  necessary. 
The  system  at  present  in  use  in  the  barracks  of  the  German 
army  is  by  far  the  best.  I have  bought  up  the  patent  for 
Norway  and  Sweden ; and  before  long  I expect  to  have 
the  machines  in  working  order  in  every  town  in  the  whole 
country.  You  may  think  this  is  a simple  matter ; but  let 
me  tell  you  the  results.  In  Sweden  the  working  man,  at 
the  ordinary  cook-shops,  will  pay  Is.  2d.  a day  for  three 
meals  for  himself.  At  my  kitchen  I supply  him  with  three 
meals  a day  for  8 d.,  making  a saving  of  40  per  cent.,  and 
for  this  8 d.  I supply  much  better  food — the  very  best  that 
can  be  bought  anywhere,  and  much  better  cooked  than  you 
can  get  in  any  hotels  in  London.  I can  do  this  and  make 
a profit  at  it — a profit  of  2 %d.  on  each  day.  I charge  them 
more  than  cost  price  in  order  that  the  profits  may  accumu- 
late for  establishing  other  kitchens  in  other  places,  and  for 
furnishing  the  kitchens  with  adjuncts  in  the  shape  of  music- 
halls,  libraries,  etc.,  while  a part  of  the  accumulated  profit 
is  devoted  to  providing  pensions  for  members  in  old  age.” 

And  as  to  the  management,  he  adds  : 

“ Come  to  Stockholm,  and  I will  show  you  my  kitchen 
in  working  order.  Every  Saturday  night  those  who  wish 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  kitchen  must  pay  an  advance 

* In  an  Open  Letter  to  the  Working  Men  of  Sweden,  Mr.  Smith 
says  he  even  thinks  that  as  much  as  40  per  cent,  of  the  present  costs 
of  food  might  thus  he  saved. 

2 C 


386 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Pure  water 
the  greatest 
essential  for 
life  and 
health. 

Mr  Thomas 
Try  on  on 
water  (1697). 


for  the  whole  seven  days.  They  receive  twenty-one  tickets, 
one  for  each  meal.  They  can  give  them  away  if  they 
please,  hut  they  are  never  wasted.  We  know,  therefore, 
exactly  to  one  meal  how  many  will  he  required  through 
the  week.  At  Berlin,  where  there  is  a society  of  charitable 
ladies  who  supply  cheap  food  for  the  people,  they  supply 
it  to  any  one  who  comes,  and,  as  a consequence,  they  never 
know  whether  their  demand  will  he  great  or  small,  and 
they  have  to  eat  up  one  day  what  is  left  over  from  another. 
Under  my  system  nothing  is  left  over.  We  know  exactly 
what  is  wanted,  and  it  is  cooked  fresh  when  it  is  wanted. 
The  people  can  either  come  and  eat  their  meal  at  the 
kitchen,  or  they  can  bring  it  home  in  vessels  which  keep 
it  warm.  I send  out  meals  to  factories  and  workshops  in 
vessels  so  constructed  that  they  keep  warm  for  hours. 
There  is  nothing  wasted,  and  the  food  is  apportioned, 
according  to  the  season  of  the  year,  on  the  most  scientific 
principles.  Care  is  taken  to  provide  exactly  the  number 
of  grammes  of  fatty  matter  and  albumen — in  winter  more 
fat,  in  spring  more  albumen ; but  the  correct  proportion  is 
always  maintained.  We  have  all  varieties  of  food,  each 
cooked  in  its  own  proper  way  to  perfection.  In  the  course 
of  the  year  we  have  as  many  as  sixty  menus  from  which 
people  can  take  their  choice.  The  economy  resulting  is 
surprising.  The  waste  of  separate  fires  and  separate 
kitchen  rooms  is  appalling.  I undertake  to  provide  any 
family  of  man,  wife,  and  two  children,  who  will  pay  me 
the  rent  of  their  kitchen  and  the  cost  of  their  fuel,  with 
dinner  all  the  year  round  for  nothing  ! ” 

During  his  recent  visit  to  London,  Mr.  Smith  told  me 
that  by  next  autumn  he  expected  to  have  ten  large  steam 
kitchens  at  work  in  Stockholm. 

§ 92.  A remedial  measure  of  the  very  first  importance, 
in  which  State,  Church,  society,  and  the  individual  ought  to 
co-operate,  is  that  of  procuring  for  all  localities  an  abundant, 
permanent,  free  supply  of  fresh,  pure,  sparkling  water. 

“ Spring  or  fountain  water,”  says  Thomas  Tryon,  in  his 
Way  to  save  Wealth  (London,  1697),  “is  the  most  whole- 
some and  sweet  of  all  drinks.  A sober  man  coming  to 
a feast  eats  his  meat  (food)  with  six  times  more  delight 
than  the  other,  because  he  brings  an  exact  palate  to  taste, 
and  a clean  and  sharp  stomach  to  entertain  it.” 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


387 


In  An  Essay  on  Health  and  Long  Life  (London,  1725),  Dr.  George 
Dr.  George  Cheyne  says — “ Without  peradventure  water  fhb0e^,°n 
was  the  primitive  original  drink,  and  happy  had  it  been  (1725). 
for  the  race  of  mankind  if  other  mixed  and  artificial  liquors 
had  never  been  invented.  Water  alone  is  sufficient  and 
effectual  for  all  the  purposes  of  human  wants  in  drink. 

Common  sense  will  tell  us  that  the  purest  and  thinnest 
water  is  fittest  to  circulate  through  tubes  so  infinitely 
small  as  some  in  animal  bodies  are,  and  even  that  it  alone 
will  nourish  plants  and  bring  them  to  perfection.” 

In  dealing  with  the  physiological  effects  of  alcohol  we 
saw  how  overwhelming  is  the  bodily  need  of  water,  that 
water  is  the  first,  food  the  second,  necessity.  And  there- 
fore it  may  justly  be  claimed  that  for  health  and  normal 
living,  the  supply  of  pure  water  is  as  necessary  as  the 
supply  of  pure  food. 

Some  cities — Antwerp  among  others — have  recently  Water 
secured  this  priceless  boon  for  the  inhabitants,  and  the  Antwerp1. m 
laws  for  the  water  supply  in  Antwerp  provide  that  in 
whatsoever  house  the  landlord  has  not  complied  with  this 
ordinance,  he  can  be  legally  compelled  at  once  to  do  so. 

As  to  London,  for  upwards  of  thirty  years  there  has  been  The  agita- 
a constant  agitation  in  this  direction,  though  it  has  not  as  p^re  water 
yet  met  with  complete  success.  Early  in  1859  an  associa-  supply  in 
tion  for  the  erection  of  drinking-fountains  was  formed  in  during  the 
London  by  Lord  John  Russell,  and  in  April  of  that  year  it  fast  twenty- 

, j J , , j.-*  J five  years. 

held  an  important  meeting.* 

Lord  Shaftesbury  and  the  chairman,  Lord  Carlisle, 
were  the  most  prominent  speakers.  The  latter  said  he 
thought  “all  present  would  agree  with  him”  that  “gin- 
palaces  and  beer-houses  were  the  most  besetting  evils  of 
London,  and  that  drinking-fountains  would  in  some  measure 
alleviate  these.” 

Earl  Shaftesbury  said  that  pure  water  was  an  im- 
perative need  ; they  were  to  recollect  the  general  condition 
of  the  working  classes  in  this  respect.  The  water  was 
generally  received  into  butts  which  stood  in  the  outer  yard, 

* The  first  fountain, near  St.  Sepulchre’s  Church,  in  Skinner  Street, 
was  built  the  same  month.  In  June,  1862,  the  magnificent  fountain 
in  Victoria  Park  was  inaugurated  by  its  donor,  Miss — now  Baroness 
— Burdett-Coutts.  Since  then  between  three  and  four  hundred  have 
been  erected  all  over  the  metropolis. 


388 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


where  they  absorbed  all  the  foul  air  and  gases  that  passed 
over  them.* 

During  last  year  an  agitation  of  a more  effective 
character,  and  which  gives  promise  of  ultimate  success, 
it; Pterin  called  forth  the  following  letter  to  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette 

the  Pall  Mall  , . 0 

Gazette  on  Au 
the  present 

water  supply  “ Sir, — Five  of  the  metropolitan  water  companies  draw 
m London,  their  supplies  from  the  Thames  above  Teddington  Lock. 

The  average  daily  flow  of  the  river  at  the  intakes  during 
August  is  500,000,000  gallons.  These  companies  abstract 

68.000. 000  gallons  per  day — that  is,  a little  more  than  one 
eighth  of  the  total  flow.  They  possess  power  to  abstract 

110.000. 000  gallons  per  day.  On  the  drainage  area  of  the 
Thames  there  dwell  900,000  people  (including  200,000  in 
towns  of  upwards  of  2,000  inhabitants),  and  upon  it  there 
live  60,000  horses,  160,000  cattle,  900,000  sheep,  and 
120,000  pigs.  Their  sewage  and  refuse  pass  into  the 
Thames,  either  directly  or  indirectly.  The  theory  that 
polluted  river-water  purifies  itself  in  its  flow  has  been 
proved  to  be  false.  After  filtration  this  water  is  sent  to 
London.  It  is  considered  very  satisfactory  when  filtration 
removes  28  per  cent,  of  the  organic  impurities,  leaving 
72  per  cent,  to  be  supplied  in  solution  to  the  consumer. 
The  companies  derive  a gross  annual  income  of  £750,000 
for  this  supply.  The  volume  of  the  flow  in  the  river  is 
fairly  constant,  but  the  amounts  of  its  pollution  and  of  the 
quantities  abstracted  daily  are  necessarily  increasing  ones. 
The  whole  of  these  figures  are  taken  from  Bluebooks,  and, 
if  disputed,  the  reference  for  each  will  be  given. 

“ If  it  were  possible  for  these  companies  to  have  a 
reservoir  containing  68,000,000  gallons  of  absolutely  pure 
water,  and  into  it  were  allowed  to  go  the  contents  of 
water-closets,  household  slops,  and  manufacturing  refuse 
of  112,500  people,  in  the  same  proportion  in  which  they 
respectively  enter  the  Thames  at  the  present  time,  and  in 
addition  as  much  of  the  manure  of  7,500  horses,  20,000 
cattle,  112,500  sheep,  and  15,000  pigs,  as  could  find  its 
way  there,  and  if  28  per  cent.,  or  even  50  per  cent.,  of 

* Recent  inquiries  into  tlie  circumstances  of  the  London  poor 
have  shown  that  the  condition  of  things  deprecated  in  1859,  have  not 
been  much  improved  in  some  of  the  London  slums  to-day. 


gust  13,  1883)  : — 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


389 


these  organic  impurities  were  removed  by  filtration,  is 
there  any  householder  in  London  who  would  use  it  for 
drinking  and  domestic  purposes  P Yet  this  is  pro  ratci 
what  they  uncomplainingly  receive  and  use  every  day. — 
I am,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

“S.” 


Undoubtedly  there  would  be  a hue  and  cry  about  the 
enormous  cost  of  an  undertaking  such  as  has  been  carried 
through  in  Antwerp,  but  suppose  it  were  possible  at  the 
same  cost  to  equally  liberally  supply  beer  and  wine,  would 
not  the  money  be  forthcoming  ? And  yet  those  compounds 
are  poisons,  and  water  is  the  principal  need  of  life. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks 
would  be  infinitely  reduced  if,  instead  of  these  dead  fluids 
from  aqueducts  and  reservoirs,  everybody  in  the  large 
centres  of  the  world  could  have  an  abundance  of  always 
fresh  pure  water  always  at  hand.*  Any  one  who  has 
drunk  from  a mountain  spring  realizes  the  diffei’ence. 
Grandly  and  permanently  successful  may  the  temperance 
agitation  hope  to  become  if  it  can  secure  sufficient  public 
interest  to  obtain  this  priceless  boon,  this  daily  necessity 
to  health  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  and  one  more  calcu- 
lated than  is  almost  any  other  agent  to  widen  the  distance 
between  them.. 

Under  the  heading  of  Water  for  Infants,  the  New  York 
Medical  Record  (August  18,  1883)  says  : — 

“ With  the  exception  of  tuberculosis,  no  disease  is  so 
fatal  in  infancy  as  intestinal  catarrh,  occurring  especially 
during  the  hot  summer  months,  and  caused,  in  the  majority 
of  cases,  by  improper  diet.  There  are  many  upon  whom 
the  idea  does  not  seem  to  have  impressed  itself  that  an 
infant  can  be  thirsty  without  at  the  same  time  being 
hungry.  When  milk,  the  chief  food  of  infants,  is  given 
in  excess,  acid  fermentation  results,  causing  vomiting, 
diarrhoea,  with  passage  of  green  or  yellowish-green  stools, 
elevated  temperature,  and  the  subsequent  train  of  symptoms 

* Drinkers  no  less  than  abstainers  ought  to  interest  themselves  in 
this  subject,  because  their  drinks,  besides  the  alcohol  and  various 
adulterating  compounds,  consist,  as  they  know,  mostly  of  water — 
exactly  the  same  kind  of  water  which  the  abstainer  takes,  minus  the 
other  compounds. 


The  New 
York  Medical 
Record  on 
water  for 
infants. 


390 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr.  James 
Wilson  on 
the  thera- 
peutic pro- 
perties of 
water. 


The  Lancet 
on  water- 
drinking. 


which  are  too  familiar  to  need  repetition.  The  same  thing 
would  occur  in  the  adult  if  drenched  with  milk.  The 
infant  needs  not  food,  but  drink.  The  recommendation  of 
some  writers,  that  barley-water  or  gum- water  be  given  to 
the  little  patients  in  these  cases,  is  sufficient  explanation 
of  their  want  of  success  in  treating  this  affection.  Pure 
water  is  perfectly  innocuous  to  infants ; it  is  difficult  to 
conceive  how  the  seeming  prejudice  to  it  ever  arose.  Any 
one  who  has  ever  noticed  the  avidity  with  which  a fretful 
sick  infant  drinks  water,  and  marks  the  early  abatement 
of  febrile  and  other  symptoms,  will  be  convinced  that 
water  as  a beverage,  a quencher  of  thirst,  a physiological 
necessity,  in  fact,  should  not  be  denied  to  the  helpless 
member  of  society.  We  have  often  seen  an  infant  who 
has  been  dosed  ad  nauseam  for  gastro-intestinal  irritability 
assume,  almost  at  once,  a more  cheerful  appearance,  and 
rapidly  grow  better  when  treated  to  the  much -needed 
draught  of  water.  If  any  prescription  is  valuable  enough 
to  be  used  as  routine  practice,  it  is,  ‘ Give  the  babies  wates\  ” 

Of  both  the  health-preserving  and  medicinal  qualities 
of  pure  water,  Dr.  James  Wilson  writes  : — 

“ There  is  no  agent  applied  to  the  human  body,  ex- 
ternally or  internally,  that  has  such  influence  in  awakening 
all  the  vital  powers  to  their  great  restorative  capabilities, 
in  arresting  the  progress  of  disease  or  preventing  a fatal 
termination,  as  pure  water.  Administered  at  various  tem- 
peratures, it  is  the  most  powerful  remedy  we  possess  ; a 
stimulant,  a sedative,  a diuretic,  a sudorific.” 

In  an  article  on  Water-drinking,  The  Lancet  (December 
15,  1883)  says — 

“ It  is  somewhat  surprising  that  in  a country  in  which 
rain  falls  almost  every  day  in  large  or  small  measure,  the 
use  of  pure  water  as  a drink  is  not  better  understood  than 
it  is.  Even  now  that  the  sway  of  temperance  is  well  estab- 
lished, and  continues  to  extend,  we  should  be  surprised  to 
learn  that  a majority  of  Englishmen  do  not  habitually  dis- 
card the  use  of  the  natural  beverage  for  one  or  other  in 
which  it  is  compounded  with  foreign  ingredients.  Yet  its 
very  purity  from  all  but  a salutary  trace  of  mineral  matter 
is  what  renders  it  capable  of  exactly  satisfying,  and  neither 
more  nor  less  than  satisfying,  the  needs  of  thirsty  tissue, 
and  of  assisting  by  its  mere  diluent  and  solvent  action, 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


391 


without  stimulation  or  other  affection  of  function,  the 
digestion  and  excretion  of  food.  No  other  qualifications 
are  necessary.  Given  digestible,  solid  food,  and  fair — that 
is,  normal — digestive  power,  water  alone  is  all-sufficient  as 
liquid.  During  the  feebleness  consequent  on  disease  or 
overwork  everything  is  changed.  There  is  blood,  though 
impoverished  in  quality,  to  receive  and  convey  nutritive 
material,  and  there  are  tissues  to  be  fed  ; but  the  vis  a tergo, 
the  driving  power  of  the  heart,  resides  in  a languid  muscle, 
and  the  alimentary  canal,  itself  but  poorly  irrigated  from 
that  centre  of  supply,  receives  what  food  is  taken  only  to 
prove  its  incapacity  to  utilize  it.  Nature  is  flagging,  and 
a stimulant  alone  will  make  ends  meet  in  the  circle  of 
tissue-building  processes.  As  a general  rule,  however, 
abstinence  holds  the  first  rank,  both  in  theory  and  practice. 
We  do  not  assert  that  the  man  who  regularly,  and  in 
strict  moderation,  partakes  of  a light  stimulant — claret, 
for  instance — may  not,  especially  if  he  is  equally  regular 
in  regard  to  outdoor  exercise,  live  comfortably  to  the  full 
term  of  human  life ; but  what  we  say  is  that  the  more 
simply  the  man  fares,  the  more  he  employs  such  adven- 
titious measures  for  actual  physical  necessity,  the  more  he 
will  gain  in  health,  in  life,  in  working  power,  and  in 
aptitude  to  benefit  by  stimulation  when  strength  is  failing 
from  disease  or  from  decay.  But  if  water  be  the  drink, 
how  shall  it  be  drunk  P The  means  must  have  regard  to 
the  end  required  of  them.  To  moisten  food  and  prepare 
it  for  digestion,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  it  should 
be  taken  with  a meal ; a couple  of  tumblerfuls  at  dinner 
is  not  an  excessive  quantity  for  most  persons.  For  thirst- 
quenching properties  nothing  can  surpass  this  simplest  of 
drinks,  and  all  which  approach  it  in  efficacy  owe  their 
power  almost  entirely  to  it.  As  to  temperature,  there  is 
no  real  ground  for  supposing  that  one  should  not  drink 
a sufficiency  of  cold  water  when  the  body  is  heated  by 
exertion.  The  inhabitants  of  hot  climates  have  no  such 
objection.  Some  tropical  wells  are  dug  so  deep  that  the 
water  within  them,  even  in  hot  seasons,  is  as  cool  as  that 
of  a European  spring.  In  fevers,  too,  the  use  of  ice  in 
quantities  sufficient  to  allay  thirst  is  a part  of  rational  and 
legitimate  treatment.  The  shock  which  has  to  be  avoided 
in  all  such  states  is  not  that  which  cools  the  mucous 


392 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dr.  Plohn's 
bibliography- 
on  water  in 
Dr.  Ziems- 
sen’s  Hand- 
book of 
General 
Therapeutics. 


Interesting 
testimony  of 
Dr.  Morel 
to  the  re- 
cuperative 
power  of 
natural 
functions 
when  per- 
versions of 
them  are 
desisted 
from. 


membrane,  but  that  of  sharp  drill  applied  to  the  surface 
of  the  body.  Some  persons,  however,  find  it  convenient 
and  beneficial  to  imbibe  a certain  amount  of  warm  water 
daily,  preferably  at  bedtime.  They  find  that  they  thus 
obtain  a bland  diluent  and  laxative,  without  even  the 
momentary  reaction  which  follows  the  introduction  of  a 
colder  fluid,  and  softened  by  abstraction  of  its  calcareous 
matter  in  the  previous  process  of  boiling.  This  method, 
which  is  an  accommodation  to  jaded  stomachs,  has  its 
value  for  such,  though  it  is  not  great  even  for  them  ; but 
it  affords  no  noticeable  advantage  for  those  of  greater  tone. 
The  use  of  water  as  an  aid  to  excretion  deserves  some 
remark.  In  certain  cases  of  renal  disease  it  has  been  found 
to  assist  elimination  of  waste  by  flushing  without  in  any 
way  irritating  the  kidneys.  Every  one  is  probably  aware 
of  its  similar  action  on  the  contents  of  the  bowel  when 
taken  on  the  old-fashioned,  but  common-sense,  plan  of 
drinking  a glass  of  water  regularly  moi’ning  and  evening, 
without  any  solid  food.  Whatever  may  be  true  of  harm- 
less luxuries,  enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  health, 
happiness,  and  work  find  stimulus  enough  in  the  un- 
sophisticated well  of  nature.” 

Those  who  imagine  water  to  be  such  a weak  and  vapid 
thing,  would  be  interested  in  examining  the  bibliography 
on  water  (by  Dr.  Plohn)  published  in  Dr.  Ziemssen’s 
Handbook  of  General  Therapeutics  (Leipsic,  1883),  occupy- 
ing twenty-eight  large  octavo  close  and  small-printed  pages, 
showing  the  medical  literature  on  water  to  be  almost  as 
voluminous  as  the  religious  literature  on  the  Bible. 

Dr.  Morel,  in  speaking  of  the  fact  that  the  practice 
of  milking  cows  all  the  year  round,  during  long  ranges  of 
generations  has  made  the  secretion  of  milk  a constant 
instead  of  temporary  function,  cites  the  interesting  cognate 
fact,  that  in  Columbia,  where  circumstances,  such  as  the 
great  superabundance  of  cattle,  etc.,  have  interrupted  this 
practice,  only  a few  years  of  freedom  from  its  constraint 
have  sufficed  to  restore  the  organization  to  its  primitive 
type. 

So  if  in  our  case  the  practice  of  drinking  without 
reference  to  real  thirst,  and  in  obedience  to  craving  pro- 
duced by  injurious  fluids,  could  be  abrogated,  and  pure 
water  be  permitted  to  resume  its  original  office  in  the 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


393 


system,  which  it  would  do  in  all  likelihood  in  an  astonish- 
ingly short  time,  we  are  justified  in  believing  that  it 
would  mark  an  epoch  in  the  condition  of  mankind,  not 
only  of  physical,  but  of  moral,  mental,  and  spiritual  health 
far  closer  to  the  pure  ideal  of  humanity  than  we  have  yet 
reached  or  prefigured. 

§ 93.  A great  step  in  the  direction  of  reform  in  part  The  import- 
commenced,  is  that  of  educating  the  young  to  understand  structSng1" 
and  respect  their  bodies.  As  early  as  1856,  at  the  Congres  de  ^dren  to 
Bienfaisance  (Brussels),  it  was  proposed,  as  a means  against  their  own 
intemperance,  that  all  obstacles  to  the  spread  of  useful  g°d(^Uy  in 
knowdedge  to  the  very  lowest  grades  of  society  should  be  regard  to  the 
removed  ; and  Frere-Orban,  Belgian  Minister  of  Finance,  alertothem! 
in  his  report  on  intoxicating  drinks,  to  the  Chamber, 

(1868),  proposed  the  establishment  of  “a  public  system  of 
education  which  tends  to  inculcate  in  the  children,  by 
counsels,  pictures,  and  writings,  horror  of  excess  and  fear 
of  the  evils  sure  to  result  from  intemperance  or  the  least 
use  of  intoxicating  drinks .” 

The  first  active  step  in  the  direction  of  temperance 
education  in  England  was  taken  by  the  National  Temper- 
ance League,  and  in  a special  memorable  meeting  at  Exeter  Testimony 
Hall  (February  13th,  1878),  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Exeter,  in  BishopTofd 
the  chair,  in  a powerful  and  eloquent  speech  said,  “ Long  Exeter, 
before  this  we  ought  to  have  made  it  one  of  the  ordinary 
lessons  in  our  elementary  schools  that  one  of  the  most 
awful  evils  that  ever  afflicted  the  country  is  to  be  found  in 
the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors.” 

Bev.  Dr.  Adamson,  of  the  Edinburgh  School  Board,  at  Of  the  Rev. 
a public  meeting  at  Galashiels  (Febraary,  1881),  stated  oAhe  Edin-’ 
that  “ Ninety-four  per  cent,  of  the  cases  in  which  parents  bu|sh  School 
failed  to  provide  education  for  their  children  were  found  °ar 
to  be  addicted  to  intemperance.” 

Although  elementally  temperance  literature  has  become 
more  familiar  to  the  children  since  it  was  allowed  among 
text-books,  very  much  yet  remains  to  be  done  before  either 
the  schools  or  the  little  ones  can  be  in  a fit  state  for 
purposes  of  education. 

The  popular  education  system  is  poor  because  it  is  so  why  the 
meagrely  supported  by  public  funds.  Leon  Donnat,  the  education 
Belgian  Statistician,  in  speaking  of  the  relative  amount  of 


394 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


system  is 
poor. 


Leon  Don- 
nat’s  esti- 
mates quoted 
in  the  Pall 
Mall  Gazette 
of  the  rela- 
tive amounts 
expended  on 
education 
and  war  by 
the  European 
powers. 


Ex-Bailie 
Lewis  on  the 
inadequacy 
of  the  Com- 
pulsory 
Education 
Act  and  of 
sanitary 
agencies  to 
uproot  or 
essentially 
diminish  the 
vice  and 
misery  pro- 
duced by  the 
public- 
house. 


public  money  devoted  to  war  and  education,  gives  the 
following  figures  per  capita,  quoted  in  the  Pall  Mall 
Gazette  for  May  5,  1883  : — 


“ 

War. 

Education. 

War. 

Education. 

5. 

d. 

s. 

d. 

s.  d. 

s. 

d. 

France  

20 

0 

1 

5 

Russia  

10  2 . 

....  0 

1* 

England  

18 

6 

3 

1 

Denmark  .. 

8 8 . 

....  4 

7 

Holland  

17 

9 

3 

2 

Italy  

7 6 . 

....  0 

8 

Saxony  

11 

9 

3 

4 

Belgium  

6 9 . 

....  2 

3 

Wurtemberg. . 

11 

9 

1 

9 

Austria  

6 8 . 

....  1 

6 

Bavaria  

11 

9 

2 

6 

Switzerland  . 

..  4 10  . 

....  4 

2 

Prussia 

10  11 

2 

5 

This  comparison,  of  course,  takes  no  account  of  the 
frightful  waste  entailed  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  labour  of 
able-bodied  men  during  the  period  of  military  service.” 

As  a consequence,  there  is  neither  the  inducement  nor 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  State  to  engage  the  best  minds 
and  characters  in  the  education  of  the  growing  generation. 

Again,  education  is  poor  because  it  is  almost  wholly 
confined  to  the  cultivation  of  the  intellect : practical 
goodness,  patience,  conscientiousness,  and  self-control  do 
not  enter  into  the  curriculum. 

How  inadequate  purely  intellectual  training  is  likely 
to  be  to  fulfil  the  needs  of  well-rounded  education,  is 
strikingly  indicated  by  the  statistics  as  to  the  results  of 
the  Compulsory  Education  Act  during  the  last  ten  years 
at  Edinburgh.  At  the  great  Temperance  Convention  in 
Edinburgh,  March  3,  1884,  ex- Bailie  David  Lewis  said 
that  “ During  the  last  ten  years  the  Compulsory  Educa- 
tion Act  had  been  in  operation,  and  in  this  city  had  been 
wrought  with  an  efficiency  second  to  no  other  place  in  the 
kingdom,  while  the  educational  system  in  Edinburgh  was 
equal  to  that  of  any  city  of  Europe.  During  the  last  ten 
years  there  had  been  expended  on  education  in  Edinburgh 
a sum  of  £1,035,000,  while  there  were  at  present  engaged 
a staff  of  730  teachers.  Notwithstanding  the  enormous 
amount  of  moral  and  educational  power  here  represented, 
they  found  from  the  police  returns  that  the  number  of 
drunken  cases  had  increased  from  5317  in  1872  to  7236 
in  1882,  being  an  increase  of  26  per  cent.,  while  the 
increase  of  the  population  had  only  been  16  per  cent. 
Again,  they  found  Edinburgh  presented  an  illustration  of 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


395 


the  extent  to  which  sanitary  agencies  were  counteracted 
by  the  drink  evil.  In  1867  an  Act  was  passed  for  im- 
proving the  waste  places  of  the  city.  Upwards  of  half 
a million  was  expended  in  rooting  out  the  haunts  of 
wretchedness  and  vice ; while  another  half-million  was 
expended  on  improved  dwellings  and  other  sanitary  reforms. 
That  the  results  of  this  grand  sanitary  experiment  had 
been  largely  counteracted  by  the  public-house  was  only 
too  apparent.  From  1867  up  till  1879,  when  they  had 
a change  in  the  police  law,  the  number  of  drunken  cases 
increased  43  per  cent.,  while  the  population  had  only 
increased  16  per  cent.” 

Says  Dr.  Channing,*  “ To  educate  is  something  more 
than  to  teach  those  elements  of  knowledge  which  are 
needed  to  get  a subsistence.  It  is  to  exercise  and  call  out 
the  higher  faculties  and  affections  of  a human  being. 
Education  is  not  the  authoritative,  compulsory,  mechanical 
training  of  passive  pupils,  but  the  influence  of  gifted  and 
quickening  minds  on  the  spirits  of  the  young. 

“ Of  what  use,  let  me  ask,  is  the  wealth  of  this  community 
hut  to  train  up  a better  generation  than  ourselves  ? Of  what 
use  is  freedom,  I ask,  except  to  call  forth  the  best  powers 
of  all  classes  and  every  individual  ? What  but  human 
improvement  is  the  great  end  of  society  ? 

“ The  poorest  child  ought  to  have  liberal  means  of  self- 
improvement,  and  were  there  a true  reverence  among  us 
for  human  nature  and  for  Christianity,  he  would  find 
them.” 

Education  is  poor  also  because  it  almost  wholly  fails  to 
teach  the  knowledge  of  the  body  and  how  to  take  care 
of  it. 

But  in  this  respect  a little  light  is  breaking. 

In  sect.  10,  chap.  38  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of 
Massachusetts  for  1872,  occurs  the  following: — “It  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  president,  professors,  and  tutors  of  the 
University  at  Cambridge  and  of  the  several  colleges,  of 
all  preceptors  and  teachers  of  academies,  and  of  all  other 
instructors  of  youth,  to  exert  their  best  endeavours  to 
impress  on  the  minds  of  children  and  youth  committed 
to  their  care  and  instruction  the  principles  of  piety  and 
justice,  and  a sacred  regard  for  truth ; love  of  their 
# Temperance  address,  Boston,  1837. 


Dr.  Chan- 
ning’s  defi- 
nition of 
education. 


His  views  on 
the  true  use 
of  wealth. 


Temperance 
teachings  in 
the  schools  of 
Massachu- 
setts, 1872. 


39G 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  noble 
labours  of 
the  National 
Temperance 
League  for 
the  spread  of 
temperance 
education. 


Cardinal 
Manning’s 
order  for  the 
establish- 
ment of 
branches 
of  the 
Catholic 
Total  Absti- 
nence 
League  in 
every 
Catholic 
school  in  the 
Archdiocese 
of  West- 
minster. 


country,  humanity,  and  universal  benevolence ; sobriety, 
industry,  and  frugality ; chastity,  moderation,  and  temper- 
ance.” 

In  England,  owing  to  the  faithful  and  skilful  labours  of 
the  National  Temperance  League,*  temperance  has  become 
a familiar  theme  in  public  schools.  The  Temperance  Record 
for  September  13,  1883,  notes  that — 

“ The  Lords  of  the  Committee  of  Council  on  Education 
have  added  hygiene  to  the  list  of  sciences  towards  instruc- 
tion, in  which  aid  is  afforded  by  the  Science  and  Art 
Department. 

“ The  syllabus  of  the  subject  that  has  been  issued  by 
the  Education  Department  is  as  follows  : — 

u‘j Elementary  Stage. — (1)  Food,  diet,  and  cooking; 
(2)  water  and  beverages ; (3)  removal  of  waste  and 

impurities ; (4)  air ; (5)  shelter  and  warming ; (6)  local 
conditions;  (7)  personal  hygiene ; (8)  treatment  of  slight 
wounds  and  accidents.  Advanced  Stage. — (1)  Food  and 
adulterations  ; (2)  water  and  beverages  ; (3)  examination 
of  air — chemical  and  microscopical ; (4)  removal  of  waste 
and  impurities  ; (5)  shelter  and  warming  ; (6)  local  con- 
ditions ; (7)  personal  hygiene  ; (8)  prevention  of  disease. 
The  Honows  Stage  embraces,  in  addition  to  the  above  sub- 
divisions of  the  subject,  (1)  trades  nuisances  ; (2)  vital 
statistics;  and  (3)  sanitary  law.’” 

And  Cardinal  Manning,  according  to  the  Daily  News 
(November  28,  1883),  “has  issued  an  order  that  a branch 
of  the  Catholic  Total  Abstinence  League  of  the  Cross  shall 
be  formed  in  every  Catholic  school  in  the  Archdiocese  of 
Westminster;  and  that  the  manager  of  each  school  shall 
be  the  president  of  each  branch ; and  temperance  literature 
is  to  be  supplied  to  the  pupils  at  weekly  meetings  of  the 
branches.” 

Considering  the  almost  incalculable  influence  teachers 
have  over  children,  and  the  fact  that  in  the  elementary 
schools  of  England  there  are  over  four  millions  of  children, 
wbat  power  must  the  teachers  exert  in  determining  the 
whole  future  of  the  nation  ! and  if  they  will  use  this  power 
in  impressing  the  growing  minds  under  their  care  with 
a full  and  particular  knowledge  of  the  facts  concerning 

* Tlie  apostles  of  the  National  Temperance  League  are  doing  a 
great  work  in  both  army  and  navy. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


397 


tlie  evil  of  alcoholic  liquors,  what  a mighty  work  for 
temperance  will  be  accomplished  with  the  little  ones  them- 
selves and,  through  them,  in  innumerable  homes  threatened 
with  or  already  fallen  under  this  curse  ! 

That  similar  grand  school  reforms  are  going  forward 
on  the  continent,  is  evident  from  the  report,  in  the  Temper- 
ance Record  (September  20,  1883),  of  “an  address  delivered 
by  Dr.  Scholtz,  of  Bremen,  on  the  17th  of  May  last,  before 
the  Allgemeine  Deutsche  Lehrerversammluug',  a national 
union  of  teachers,  not  exclusively,  though  of  course  largely, 
composed  of  elementary  teachers,  which  met  this  year  in 
that  town.  Dr.  Scholtz  propounded  four  theses,  each  of 
which  he  defended  in  turn.  (1)  That  the  teaching  of 
hygiene  should  he  obligatory  in  all  schools.  (2)  Hygiene 
should  be  treated  as  a part  of  natural  science.  (3)  The 
teaching  of  anatomy  and  physiology  should  be  strictly 
limited  to  such  points  as  have  a direct  bearing  on  the 
health  of  the  individual.  (4)  Dr.  Scholtz’s  last  thesis 
was,  that  in  the  seminaries  (i.e.,  training  colleges)  hygiene 
should  be  taught  as  an  integral  subject  of  study,  for  the 
good  reason  that  he  who  attempts  to  teach  the  elements  of 
a science  should  first  be  master  of  every  part.  The  outline 
he  sketched  of  the  subjects  to  be  taught  is  nearly  identical 
with  the  syllabus  recently  issued  by  our  department.” 

Elementary  temperance  teaching  is  at  present  furnished 
in  many  schools  in  Canada  as  well  as  in  Australia,  and  the 
Temperance  Record  (January  31, 1884)  contains  an  article  on 
temperance  work  in  United  States’  schools  taken  from  the 
National  Temperance  Advocate  of  Hew  York,  which  says — 

“Already  laws  have  been  passed  in  Minnesota,  Vermont, 
and  Michigan,  placing  among  the  required  studies  in  all 
schools  supported  by  public  money  or  under  State  control, 
physiology  and  hygiene,  which  shall  give  special  promi- 
nence  to  the  effect  of  alcoholic  drinks  upon  the  human 
system,  and  teachers  must  be  examined  in  this  as  in  other 
necessary  studies.  By  circulating  petitions  and  by  other 
means  similar  laws  for  compulsory  tenrperance  education 
can  be  passed  in  every  State,  because  people  will  vote  for 
the  education  of  their  children  far  sooner  than  they  will 
for  prohibition.” 

The  Pall  Mall  Gazette  (February  16,  1884)  says— 

“ An  American  Assembly-man,  who  holds  that  besides 


Efforts  to 
establish 
temperance 
education  in 
German 
schools ; 


And  in 
Canadian, 
Australian, 
and 

American 

schools. 


398 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  school 
savings-bank 
system  in 
Sweden. 


the  three  TVs  instruction  in  physiology  and  hygiene  should 
be  given  in  the  public  schools  of  America,  has  drafted  a 
bill  for  that  purpose.  In  his  opinion  it  is  necessary  that 
some  knowledge  of  the  human  body,  and  of  the  conditions 
under  which  that  body  can  live  in  a healthy  state,  should  be 
imparted  to  a child.  And  not  only  should  this  be  taught, 
but  it  should  be  taught  with  especial  reference  to  the  effect 
of  narcotic  and  alcoholic  poisons  on  the  human  system. 
His  bill  requires  that  teachers  applying  for  positions  in 
the  public  schools  shall  be  examined  with  reference  to 
their  knowledge  of  physiology  and  hygiene.” 

An  institution  in  connection  with  the  public  schools  in 
Sweden  which  is  greatly  pi’omotive  of  temperance  is  the 
school  savings-bank  system,  by  which  the  pupils,  boys 
and  girls,  are  from  their  earliest  years  encouraged  to 
deposit  small  sums,  of  only  a few  ore  (ten  ore  a little  more 
than  one  penny)  at  a time  till  a crown  (a  little  over  a 
shilling)  has  been  laid  up,  when  it  is  transferred  to  the 
real  city  savings-bank,  so  that  when  they  come  of  age 
they  have  a little  nest-egg  to  begin  life  with,  and  at  the 
same  time  have  acquired  a rational  practical  habit  of 
economy. 

The  industry  which  goes  naturally  with  economy  and 
temperance  is  also  practically  taught  in  the  workshop 
department  of  these  schools  in  which  the  pupils  receive 
regular  instruction  in  all  sorts  of  useful  handicraft,  and 
ornamental  also.  They  receive  twenty  per  cent,  on  the 
sale  of  the  tools  and  implements  they  make,  from  knife 
handles  and  knife  trays,  to  blackboard  brushes  and  step- 
ladders.  These  schools  have  special  tuition  in  the  laws  of 
health  ; and  as  to  the  products  of  both  animal  and  vegetable 
kingdoms,  the  girls  are  taught  all  the  mechanical  processes 
of  milk  and  butter-making,  the  character  and  names  of  j all 
portions  of  fish  and  flesh  as  sold  in  the  markets,  and  how 
to  utilize  them  in  the  best  methods  of  cooking,  what  to  do 
with  bones,  fat,  etc.  ; the  same  with  regard  to  vegetable, 
flax,  hemp,  etc.  They  are  trained  to  describe  the  different 
materials  and  values  of  the  clothing  they  have  on,  where 
in  Sweden  each  particular  animal  product  or  fabric  are  to 
be  found,  etc.,  etc.  A most  admirable  preparation  against 
the  waste,  carelessness,  and  degradation  which  are  so 
much  the  results  of  ignorance. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


399 


But  the  worst  cause  why  popular  education  fails,  and 
the  most  difficult  of  remedy,  is  the  miserable  poverty  * of 
the  masses  Avhose  children  form  the  vast  majority  of  the 
attendance  at  public  schools  ; and  that  drink  is  the  chief 
cause  of  this  poverty, f does  not  change  the  fact  that  the 
children,  hungry,  ill-clothed,  and  full  of  premature  care, 
are  in  no  condition  to  study,  or  to  profit  by  teaching. 

Mr.  E.  N.  Buxton,  Chairman  of  the  London  School 
Board,  in  liis  opening  address  to  that  body,  October  4, 
1883,  drew  a dismal  picture  of  the  failure  of  the  Education 
Act  of  1870.  Among  other  sad  examples  he  quotes — 

“ The  School  Management  Committee  lately  had  a 
report  in  which  an  analysis  was  made  of  the  mode  of  living 
of  the  parents  whose  children  attend  school  in  the  metro- 
polis. In  one,  the  scholars  came  from  313  families,  and 
182  of  these  families  live  in  a single  room.  In  the  second 
school,  the  scholars  came  from  487  families,  400  of  whom 
lived  in  one  room.  In  a third  school,  the  children  came 
from  339  families,  289  of  whom  lived  in  one  room.” 

In  his  address  to  his  constituents  at  Sheffield  (December 
11,  1883),  Drink  in  its  Bearing  upon  Education,  the  Right 
Honourable  Mr.  Mundella,  M.P.,  said — 

# The  education  of  the  wealthy  is  often,  though  in  the  very  oppo- 
site direction,  almost  as  ineffectual  as  that  of  the  poor.  With  birth 
and  money,  one  or  both,  behind  them,  the  young  Farintoshes  and 
Lord  Yerisophts  have  it  all  their  own  way  with  their  tutors  and  pro- 
fessors ; at  home,  at  school,  at  the  university  they  are  deferred  to, 
flattered,  and  coached  into  what  is  deemed  a gentlemanly  education. 
The  system  fosters  indolence,  dissipation,  and  the  concrete  vices  of 
selfishness,  totally  unfitting  them  for  doing  their  part  in  this  or  any 
great  work  of  reform.  Yet  it  is  as  essential  to  the  well-being  of 
society  that  the  education  of  the  wealthy  should  be  practical,  serious, 
and  broad  as  it  is  that  the  children  of  the  poor  should  be  properly 
fed,  clothed,  and  cared  for  before  they  are  put  to  books. 

“ If  I were  called  upon  to  name  those  within  my  knowledge  who 
have  ruined  their  prospects  in  life,  who  have  lost  good  situations  and 
have  fallen  from  comparative  care  and  competence  to  a state  of 
degradation,  they  would  not  be  the  men  belonging  to  the  labouring 
class,  following  agricultural  or  mechanical  pursuits;  but  they  would 
be  men  of  a superior  class,  of  good  education — men  who  have  enjoyed 
comfortable  homes  and  good  salaries,  and  who,  in  spite  of  all,  have 
fallen  victims  to  this  abominable  and  frightful  vice  of  drink.” — 
Quotation  from  an  address  by  Mr.  Walter,  M.P.,  proprietor  of  the 
Times,  cited  in  Rev.  Dr.  Dawson  Burns’  Christendom  and  the  Drink 
Curse  (London,  1875). 

f See  Chap.  x.  pp.  234-265. 


Poverty  the 
worst  enemy 
of  popular 
education, 
and  drink 
the  chief 
cause  of 
poverty. 


Statement  by 
Mr.  E.  N. 
Buxton 
Chairman  of 
the  London 
School 
Board. 


Statement  by 
the  Right 
Hon.  Mr. 
Mundella  on 
drink  in  its 
bearing  upon 
education. 


400 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Poverty  will 
never  yield 
until  drink 
is  removed. 


Mr.  Glad- 
stone on 
poverty,  in 
the  House  of 
Commons, 
in  1843. 


“ Now,  here  is  a block  containing  1082  families  and 
2153  children  of  school  age ; mind,  that  excludes  children 
below  five  years  of  age,  and  above  thirteen.  There  are 
three  schools  in  the  block,  two  churches,  three  chapels, 
and  forty-one  public-houses.  Now,  what  does  that  mean  ? 
I want  you  just  to  think  this  out  for  a moment.  For 
these  1082  families — wretched,  poverty-stricken,  miserable 
in  all  their  surroundings — there  are  forty-one  public- 
houses  ! That  means  that  every  twenty-five  of  these 
wretched  families  have  one  public-house  ! If  you  will 
carry  it  out  for  yourselves — that  is  to  say,  if  you  consider 
what  it  costs  to  maintain  an  average  public-house  in 
London,  and  consider  what  these  twenty-five  families  must 
spend  in  drink  to  maintain  it — you  will  form  some  idea 
of  one  of  the  greatest  causes  of  this  miseiy  among  our 
population.  When  Mr.  Forster  was  passing  his  Education 
Bill,  Mr.  Bartley  made  an  investigation,  which  showed 
that  less  than  one  penny  per  week  per  family  in  a square 
mile  of  the  East  of  London  was  spent  on  education, 
and  more  than  4 s.  3d.  in  drink.  That  means,  in  the 
whole  of  this  area  of  wretchedness  of  a mile  square,  the 
education  cost  less  than  four  shillings  a year  for  the 
family,  and  the  drink  more  than  £11.” 

Yet  with  all  that  England  has  done  to  relieve  it, 
especially  during  the  last  forty  years,  we  see  this  poverty 
not  only  not  overcome,  but  steadily  growing.  Why  ? 

Because  those  who  see  and  seek  to  alleviate  poverty 
do  not  first  attack  the  root  of  the  evil,  drink.  In  chapters 
vii.  and  x.,  on  moral  and  social  results,  it  was  explained 
at  length  how  omnipotent  a cause  drink  is,  of  all  evils  and 
of  povei-ty  with  all  its  concomitants  of  misery. 

Forty  years  ago  an  agitation  for  the  removal  of  poverty, 
very  similar  to  the  present,  shook  the  whole  of  England. 
On  the  13th  of  February,  1843,  Mr.  Gladstone  said  to  the 
House  of  Commons  : — 

“ It  is  one  of  the  most  melancholy  features  in  the  social 
state  of  this  country  that  we  see,  beyond  the  possibility  of 
denial,  that  while  there  is  at  this  moment  a decrease  in  the 
consuming  powers  of  the  people,  an  increase  of  the  pres- 
sure of  privations  and  distress,  there  is  at  the  same  time  a 
constant  accumulation  of  wealth  in  the  upper  classes, 
an  increase  of  luxuriousness  of  their  habits  and  of  their 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


401 


means  of  enjoyment,  which,  however  satisfactory  it  may  be 
as  affording'  evidence  of  the  existence  and  abundance  of 

o 

one  among  the  elements  of  national  prosperity,  yet  adds 
bitterness  to  the  reflections  which  are  forced  upon  us  by 
the  distresses  of  the  rest  of  our  fellow-countrymen.” 

To-day  most  radical  measures  are  proposed  even  by  the 
members  of  former  cabinets,  as  well  as  by  members  of  the 
present  cabinet.  Lord  Salisbury,  member  of  the  Beacons- 
field  cabinet,  and  present  leader  of  the  Conservative  party, 
contributed  to  the  National  Bevieiv  (November,  1883),  a 
notable  paper  on  Labourers’  and  Artisans’  Dwellings , in 
which  he  advocates  measures  for  the  “ housing  of  the 
poor,”  of  a state-socialistic  nature.  The  following  is  a fair 
digest  of  this  article  : — 

“ The  housing  of  the  poor  in  our  gi’eat  towns,  especially 
in  London,  is  a much  more  difficult  and  much  more  urgent 
question,  for  the  increase  of  prosperity  tends  rather  to 
aggravate  the  existing  evil  than  to  lighten  it.  It  is,  in 
fact,  directly  caused  by  our  prosperity.  . . . 

“ Thousands  of  families  have  only  a single  room  to 
dwell  in,  where  they  sleep  and  eat,  multiply  and  die.  For 
this  miserable  lodging  they  pay  a price  ranging  from  two 
shillings  to  five  shillings  a week — a larger  rent,  on  the 
whole,  than  the  agricultural  labourer  pays  for  a cottage 
and  garden  in  the  country.  It  is  difficult  to  exaggerate 
the  misery  which  such  conditions  of  life  must  cause,  or  the 
impulse  which  they  must  give  to  vice.  . . . These  over- 
crowded centres  of  population  are  also  centres  of  disease ; 
the  successive  discoveries  of  biologists  tell  us  more  and 
more  clearly  that  there  is  in  this  matter  an  indissoluble 
partnership  among  all  human  beings  breathing  in  the 
same  vicinity.  If  the  causes  of  disease  were  inanimate,  no 
one  would  hesitate  about  employing  advances  of  public 
money  to  render  them  innocuous.  Why  should  the  ex- 
penditure become  illegitimate  because  these  causes  happen 
to  be  human  beings  ? . . . The  question  remains  whether 
more  can  be  done  by  Parliament  than  has  been  done,  and 
if  so,  in  what  direction  ought  it  to  move  ? A more  im- 
portant subject  of  inquiry  could  hardly  be  suggested  ; for 
it  concerns,  directly  or  indirectly,  the  well-being  of  hundreds 
of  thousands.  ...  I see  a statement  in  the  newspapers 
that  the  Liberty  and  Property  Defence  League  are  prepar- 

2 D 


Lord  Salis- 
bury’s sug- 
gestions for 
the  allevia- 
tion of 
poverty  as 
made  in  the 
National 
Bevieiv, 
November, 
1883. 


402 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Mr.  Cham- 
berlain on 
the  same 
topic  in 
Fortnightly 
Review , 
December, 
1883. 


ing  to  denounce  any  such  inteiference  as  unsound  in  prin- 
ciple. If  this  account  of  their  views  is  a true  one,  I think 
they  have  in  this  instance  gone  farther  than  sound  reason- 
ing and  the  precedents  of  our  legislation  will  justify.  . . . 
This  unhappy  population  has  a special  claim  on  any  assist- 
ance that  Parliament  can  give.  The  evil  has  in  a great 
measure  been  created  by  Parliament  itself.  . . . Under 
these  circumstances,  it  is  no  violation  even  of  the  most 
scrupulous  principles  to  ask  Parliament  to  give  what  relief 
it  can.  Laissez  faire  is  an  admirable  doctrine,  but  it  must 
be  applied  on  both  sides.” 

This  shows  how  keenly  alive  Lord  Salisbury  is  to  the 
horrible  condition  of  the  poor  in  the  city  : how  about 
those  in  the  country  ? But  he  has  not  a word  to  say  of 
drink,  the  chief  cause  of  it ; and,  curiously  enough,  states 
that  “ the  evil  has  been  in  a great  measure  created  by 
Parliament  itself.” 

Mr.  Joseph  Chamberlain,  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  contributed  to  the  December  number  of  the  Fort- 
nightly Review  (1883)  an  article  on  the  Housing  of  the 
Poor,  which  is  even  more  radical  than  Lord  Salisbury’s  in 
its  suggestions  for  the  removal  of  poverty.  It  opens  with 
this  ominous  paragraph — 

“ Social  reform  is  in  the  air.  In  the  pages  of  this 
review  able  writers  have  for  some  time  past  endeavoured 
to  impress  on  statesmen  and  politicians  the  urgency  of 
social  questions  and  the  magnitude  of  the  evils  which  have 
silently  undermined  the  exti’aordinary  show  of  outward 
prosperity  on  which  we  have  been  congratulating  ourselves 
during  the  last  thirty  years.  Never  before  in  our  history 
were  wealth  and  the  evidences  of  wealth  so  abundant ; 
never  before  was  luxurious  living  so  general  and  so  wanton 
in  its  display  ; and  never  before  was  the  misery  of  the  very 
poor  more  intense,  or  the  conditions  of  their  daily  life  more 
hopeless  and  more  degraded.  In  the  course  of  the  last 
twenty  years  it  is  estimated  that  the  annual  income  of  the 
nation  has  increased  by  six  hundred  millions,  but  there  are 
still  nearly  a million  persons  constantly  in  receipt  of  parish 
relief,  and  millions  more  are  always  on  the  verge  of  this 
necessity.  The  vast  wealth  which  modem  progress  has 
created  has  run  into  ‘ pockets  ; ’ individuals  and  classes 
have  grown  rich  beyond  the  dreams  of  avarice,  and  are 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


403 


busying  themselves  in  inventing  methods  of  wasting  the 
money  which  they  are  unable  to  enjoy.  But  the  great 
majority  of  the  ‘ toilers  and  spinners  ’ have  derived  no 
proportionate  advantage  from  the  prosperity  which  they 
have  helped  to  create,  while  a population  equal  to  that  of 
the  whole  metropolis  has  remained  constantly  in  a state  of 
abject  destitution  and  misery.  Is  it  wonderful  that  from 
time  to  time  are  heard  murmurs  of  discontent  and  even  of 
impatient  anger  ? What  manner  of  men  and  women  must 
these  millions  of  paupers  be  if  they  can  see  without  re- 
pining or  resentment  the  complacent  exhibition  of  opulence 
and  ease  which  is  for  ever  flaunted  in  their  faces,  within  a 
few  hundred  yards  of  the  noisome  courts  and  alleys  in 
which  they  huddle  for  warmth  and  shelter,  without  a 
single  comfort,  and  in  hourly  anxiety  for  the  barest 
necessaries  of  life  ? The  cry  of  distress  is  as  yet  almost 
inarticulate,  but  it  will  not  always  remain  so.  The  needs 
of  the  poor  are  gradually  finding  expression  ; the  measures 
proposed  for  their  relief  are  coming  under  discussion.  The 
wide  circulation  of  such  books  as  the  ‘ Progress  and 
Poverty,’  of  Mr.  Henry  George,  and  the  acceptance  which 
his  proposals  have  found  among  the  working  classes,  are 
facts  full  of  significance  and  warning.  If  something  be  not 
done  quickly  to  meet  the  growing  necessities  of  the  case, 
we  may  live  to  see  theories  as  wild  and  methods  as  unjust 
as  those  suggested  by  the  American  economist  adopted  as 
the  creed  of  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  the  electorate.” 

He  also  ignores  drink  as  a chief  agent  in  this  misery, 
and  suggests  a principal  remedy  in  these  words  : — 

“ Let  us  go  to  the  root  of  the  matter,  and  state  the 
principle  on  which  alone  a radical  reform  is  possible.  The 
expense  of  making  towns  habitable  for  the  toilers  ivho  dwell  in 
them  must  be  thrown  on  the  land  which  their  toil  makes 
valuable,  and  without  any  effort  on  the  part  of  its  owners. 

“ When  these  owners,  not  satisfied  with  the  unearned 
increment  which  the  general  prosperity  of  the  country  has 
created,  obtain  exorbitant  returns  from  their  investment 
by  permitting  arrangements  which  make  their  property  a 
public  nuisance  and  a public  danger,  the  State  is  entitled 
to  step  in  and  to  deprive  them  of  the  rights  which  they 
have  abused,  paying  only  such  compensation  as  will  fairly 
represent  the  worth  of  their  property  fairly  used.” 


404 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Dangers 
from  sup- 
planting 
moral  im- 
petus by 
mere 
political 
agitation. 


Earl  Shaftes- 
bury on  the 
mischief  of 
State  aid, 
Nineteenth 
Century , 
December, 
1883. 


Earl  Shaftes- 
bury’s state- 
ment that 
“ It  is  im- 
possible, 
absolutely 
impossible,  to 
do  anything 


If  legislation  could  remove  poverty,  Mr.  Chamberlain's 
remedy  would  doubtless  go  far  towards  doing  so ; but  if 
tbis  matter  be  left  to  legislation  only,  or  chiefly,  i.e.,  if  tbe 
question  of  poverty  is  made  principally  a political  one,  and 
therefore  through  political  interests  and  reasons  introduced 
into  Parliament — instead  of  being  brought  there  by  force 
of  the  earnest,  calm,  intelligent  expression  of  the  popular 
■will,  because  it  is  known  and  felt  that  the  solution  of  the 
poverty  problem  is  of  paramount  importance  to  the  welfare 
of  the  whole  nation — it  is  too  likely  to  meet  with  the  same 
fate  which  has  befallen  other  great  moral  measures  when 
dealt  with  from  a chiefly  political  point  of  view. 

Earl  Shaftesbury,  in  his  part,  The  Mischief  of  State  Aid, 
in  the  symposium  on  poverty  and  its  remedies  ( Nineteenth 
Century , December,  1883),  admirably  points  this  fact  in 
these  words : 

“ If  the  State  is  to  be  summoned  not  only  to  provide 
houses  for  the  labouring  classes,  but  also  to  supply  such 
dwellings  at  nominal  rents,  it  will,  while  doing  something 
on  behalf  of  their  physical  condition,  utterly  destroy  their 
moral  energies.  The  State  is  bound  in  a case  such  as  this 
to  give  every  facility  by  law  and  enabling  statutes,*  but 
the  work  itself  should  be  founded  and  proceed  on  voluntary 
effort,  for  which  there  is  in  the  country  an  adequate 
amount  of  wealth,  zeal,  and  intelligence.  . . . Were  a 
central  committee  formed  in  the  city  of  London,  consisting 
of  gentlemen  of  power,  wealth,  and  influence,  who  would 
undertake  to  organize  such  a movement,  form  local  com- 
mittees (for  local  committees  there  must  be  in  the  several 
districts),  and  issue  an  appeal,  there  would  be  in  the  present 
day,  few  can  doubt  it,  a ready  and  ample  response.  These 
gentlemen  would  determine  how  far  they  could  proceed 
without  new  legislation  ; though  additional  laws,  if  required 
at  all,  would  be  required  rather  for  the  completion  than  for 
the  commencement  of  the  work.  The  powers  already  in 
existence  should  be  called  into  operation.  They  are  far 
greater  than  most  people  are  aware  of.” 

These  are  invaluable  suggestions,  but,  as  Earl  Shaftes- 
bury himself  told  me,  “ It  is  impossible,  absolutely  impos- 
sible, to  do  anything  to  permanently  or  considerably  relieve 
this  poverty,  until  we  have  got  rid  of  the  curse  of  drink.” 

* Enabling  Statutes,  14  and  15  Yict.  chap.  34  of  1S51. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


405 


And  towards  this  end  a report  from  such  committees  as 
Lord  Shaftesbury  suggests,  would  undoubtedly  accomplish 
much. 

The  very  removal  of  drink  would  make  it  physically 
impossible  for  the  poor  to  sink  so  low  as  they  now  do, 
because  it  is  only  by  means  of  the  deadening,  narcotizing 
effects  that  drink  exercises  on  body  and  soul,  that  human 
beings  can  be  brought  to  endure  the  lowest  kinds  of 
degradation. 

Without  the  benumbing  influence  of  drink,  many  would 
awaken  to  their  degraded  condition,  and  this  awakening 
would  enable  poor  relief  committees  to  do  most  beneficent 
and  effective  work. 

For  example,  a Working  Woman,  in  the  column  on  The 
London  Poor  (Daily  News,  December  1,  1883),  suggests  the 
establishment  of  “ A Labour  Registry  Office,  conducted  by 
Government  or  a company,  where  information  might  be 
obtained  as  to  every  kind  of  labourer,  mechanic,  or  clerk 
required.  To  be  effectual,  it  should  of  course  be  necessary 
to  have  these  offices  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  connected 
perhaps  with  the  post-office  or  workmen’s  clubs  ; they  could 
be  applied  to  by  letter  or  personally.  A certificate  or 
recommendation  from  the  last  employer  should  be  made  a 
sine  qua  non;  thus  enabling  all  good  workmen  to  obtain 
employment,  which  is  far  from  being  the  case  now.  It 
seems  to  me  that  the  matter  is  worth  a trial,  especially  as 
a successful  instance  is  before  us  of  a domestic  servants’ 
agency.  At  this  establishment  no  servant  is  put  on  the 
list  until  a form  has  been  sent  to  the  former  master  or 
mistress,  which  they  are  desired  to  fill  up  as  to  the 
character  of  the  servant  applying  for  a place.  This,  if 
conscientiously  filled  up,  is  a great  deterrent  to  character- 
less servants  from  applying.” 

Another  remedy,  which  Government,  and  such  poor 
relief  committees  as  Earl  Shaftesbury  suggests,  might 
co-operate  in  effecting,  consists  in  the  establishment  of  sober 
working  men’s  banks,*  where  those  deemed  by  a proper 

* A most  valuable  suggestion  as  to  the  formation  and  conduct  of 
working  men’s  banks  is  given  in  Mr.  L.  O.  Smith’a  Open  Letter  to  the 
Labourers  of  Sweden  (Stockholm,  1883).  This  letter  is,  as  a whole, 
so  rich  in  practical  suggestions,  that  if  translated  and  sown  broad- 
cast over  Great  Britain,  it  would  do  much  to  produce  in  working 


to  perma- 
nently or 
considerably 
relieve 
poverty, 
until  we  have 
got  rid  of  the 
curse  of 
drink.” 


A working 
woman’s 
letter,  sug- 
gesting the 
establish- 
ment of  a 
Government 
Labour 
Registry 
Office  ( Daily 
News , 
December, 
1883). 


Suggestion 
as  to  the 
establish- 
ment of 
sober  work- 
ing men’s 
reliefbanks. 


406 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


board  of  judges  fit  recipients  of  pecuniary  aid,  should 
obtain  it  free  of  interest,  and  on  the  understanding  that  it 
was  left  to  their  honour  to  return  such  sums  when  able  to 
do  so.  But  no  drinking  person  should  be  entitled  to  such 
aid,  simply  on  the  ground  of  his  unreliability,  and  the 
probability  that  the  money  would  go  to  the  publican 
rather  than  to  the  improvement  of  his  own  condition. 
Special  arrangements  encouraging  the  deposit  of  savings, 
with  a view  to  the  support  of  widows  and  children  of  sober 
working-men,  might  be  made  in  these  banks  ; and  a special 
department  could  be  provided  for  the  deposit  of  savings 
from  drink,  which  could  be  promoted  by  many  carefully 
considered  regulations ; such,  for  instance,  as  the  surety 
that  when  the  total  amount  of  deposit  of  this  character — 
representing  moral  growth  through  resistance  to  tempta- 
tion— should  have  reached  a certain  figure,  it  should  be 
augmented  by  a liberal  gift,  and  a similar  gift  follow  upon 
a future  specified  increase ; so  that  reformed  drinkers 
would  be  strengthened  in  their  reformation,  not  only  by 
knowing  that  something  was  safe  for  a rainy  day,  for 
accident,  for  illness,  or  for  some  good  enterprise  for  better- 
ing their  condition,  but  that  in  case  of  their  death  their 
wives  and  children  would  be  provided  for. 

If  the  aristocracy  and  the  wealth  of  London  would 
establish  and  maintain  an  adequate  institution  of  this 
kind,  the  expense  to  them  individually  would  be  trifling 
in  proportion  to  their  means,  while  the  return  in  the 
diminution  of  poor  taxes,  and  in  the  imperishable  wealth 
of  doing  good,  would  be  very  great ; and,  a still  more  vital 
point,  they  would  lessen  the  gross  total  of  wrong  which 
saturates  civilization,  retarding  human  progress  in  the 
proportion  of  the  existing  amount  of  ill. 

There  are  links  between  the  den  and  the  palace,  ties 
between  the  millionnaire  and  the  beggar,  the  virtuous  and 
the  wicked.  Generally  there  exists  a constant  gradation 
between  these  conditions,  at  times  there  is  a sudden  trans- 
position from  the  one  to  the  other ; the  connecting  pro- 
cesses are  usually  invisible,  but  they  are  none  the  less 
real,  and  work  out  the  results  with  terrible  certainty 
and  accuracy. 

men’s  minds  an  intelligent  notion  of  how  to  improve  their  whole 
economic,  moral,  social,  and  political  position. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


407 


If  England  continue  practically  to  ig'nore,  or  condone 
and  minimize  the  drink  evil  as  the  root  of  poverty,  infamy, 
and  crime,  she  will  reap  the  fruits  of  this  error.  Only 
with  the  solution  of  this  problem  will  real  goodness,  with 
the  happiness  and  peace  they  engender,  come  into  those 
hearts  and  homes  where  wealth  and  luxury  now  only 
emphasize  the  unrest,  the  hollowness,  and  the  hardness  of 
their  prosperous  inmates. 

Contrasting  the  scenes  in  the  London  slums  -with  the 
splendour  and  lavish  luxury  of  London’s  wealthy  homes, 
Mr.  Francis  Peek  ( Social  Wreckage , London,  1883)  says, 
“ How  startling  the  contrast  between  the  magnificence 
there  and  the  sordid  destitution  here  ; between  these  fair, 
richly  clad,  attractive  women  and  those  hideous  human 
beings  of  the  same  sex,  who  sit  shivering  in  rags  and 
grimed  with  dirt ! Is  it  asked  who  is  responsible  for  such 
a contrast  ? Surely  every  indolent  man  or  woman,  who, 
living  in  ease  and  plenty,  leaves  things  to  take  their 
chance  under  the  excuse  of  business  for  want  of  power, 
but  really  with  the  unexpressed  plea  of  Cain,  ‘ Am  I my 
brother’s  keeper  P ’ 

“ Retribution  is  the  law  of  the  universe.  If  we  allow 
our  brothers  and  sisters  to  drag  out  their  existence  in 
degradation,  pauperism,  and  crime,  a time  will  come,  even 
in  this  world,  when  selfishness,  pride,  and  indolence  will 
bring  their  bitter  reward.  If  the  Christian  teaching  of 
brotherhood  be  ignored,  the  words  ‘ liberty,  fraternity, 
equality  ’ may  once  more  become  a battle-cry  of  revenge 
from  those  to  whom  the  acknowledgment  of  their  fraternity 
has  been  denied.  Every  Englishman,  every  Englishwoman, 
can  do  something,  and  they  who  decline  to  work  in  the 
cause  of  the  poor,  fail  not  less  in  their  duty  to  their 
country  and  to  their  God.” 

I am  impelled  to  repeat  that  if  this  problem  of  poverty 
is  left  to  legislation  only,  it  will  in  the  first  instance  be 
most  probably  long  delayed,  while  the  royal  commission 
gathers  evidence,  and  much  time  will  be  wasted  in  con- 
troversy and  fencing  over  the  report,  with  danger  of  its 
being  ultimately  shelved  or  rendered  inoperative  ; other 
measures  more  suitable  for  legislation,  and  for  that  reason 
more  practicable,  will  be  deferred,  and  when  the  longed- 
for  legislation  does  come,  it  will  hardly,  as  the  saying 


Mr.  Francis 
Peek  on  the 
responsi- 
bility of  the 
rich  in  the 
question  of 
poverty  and 
drink. 


408 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Blanqui on 
the  futility 
of  legislative 
measures 
only  as  a 
cure  for 
poverty. 


goes,  be  worth  the  candle.  Parliamentary  effectiveness  is 
well  summed  up  in  the  ancient  threadbare  hexameter : 

“ Parturiunt  montes  nascitur  ridiculus  mus.” 

Generally  speaking,  legislation  is  satisfactory  only  in 
the  degree  that  a minimum  of  private  and  corporate 
interest  is  at  stake,  and  as  very  large  individual  interests 
are  in  manifold  ways  concerned  in  any  legislation  for  poor- 
maintenance  by  the  State,  it  seems  sanguine  to  expect  very 
much  directly  from  the  present  movement. 

I wish,  however,  not  to  be  nnderstood  as  saying  or 
meaning  that  the  State  has  no  responsibilities  or  power  to 
do  much  towards  the  alleviation  of  such  suffering  as  the 
press  of  England  is  now  discussing ; nor  would  I,  if  I 
knew  it,  say  anything  to  check  the  beneficent  warmth 
that  has  burst  out  toward  the  poverty-stricken.  But  it 
is  surely  well  to  remember  that  even  the  most  excellent 
legislation,  if  not  preceded  by  the  necessary  preparation 
for  its  application  and  reception,  must  largely  become  a 
failure.  Legislation  for  poverty  must  more  than  any  other 
be  preceded  by  moral  education  and  reform ; otherwise 
even  the  best  legislation  would  only  remove  poverty,  as 
we  remove  fruit  from  a tree,  leaving  behind  all  that  will 
produce  another  harvest  of  the  same. 

This  fact  was  terribly  and  thoroughly  illustrated  in 
the  great  Erench  Revolution.  The  watchword  of  the 
Assembly  was,  “ Let  no  one  bring  up  in  opposition  the 
rights  of  property.  The  right  of  property  cannot  be  the 
right  to  starve  fellow-citizens.  The  fruits  of  the  earth, 
like  the  air,  belong  to  all  men.” 

Wages  were  determined  by  law,  and  bounties  were 
created  for  the  poor. 

In  speaking  of  this  time  the  eminent  French  economist, 
Blanqui,  in  his  History  of  Political  Economy  (Paris,  1860), 
says — 

“ All  of  wealth  and  felicity  which  philanthropic  legis- 
lation could  decree  was  decreed,  but  the  people  found  that 
public  wealth  followed  other  laws  than  those  of  compul- 
sion. Governments  and  individuals  were  forced  to  seek  the 
elements  of  future  greatness  elsewhere  than  in  mere  legis- 
lative programmes ; ” they  found  “ that  the  finest  laws 
are  insufficient  to  secure  to  each  citizen  a prosperous 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


409 


condition,  unless  he  co-operates  with  them  in  labour  and 
morality.” 

Laws,  then,  are  secondary  considerations,  proper  con-  individual 
ditions  and  proper  men  being  the  first  requisites.  It  may  ^“yaIs1ttayb*e 
truly  be  said  that  ideal  laws  and  institutions  prematurely  foundation 
secured,  i.e.,  secured  to  people  unfit  to  appreciate,  enforce,  ofP10gress- 
and  maintain  them,  result  not  only  in  swift  and  certain 
disasters,  and  in  complications  which  have  a long  evil 
evolution,  but  force  realization  of  the  ideal  thus  sought  for 
to  recede  into  a more  distant  future  than  the  processes  of 
wise  approach  would  have  made  necessary. 

A scheme  for  the  relief  of  poverty,  which  has  within  a 
few  years  taken  great  hold  of  the  public  mind,  is  that  of 
land  nationalization,  i.e.,  the  transfer  of  land  from  indi- 
vidual to  state  ownership.  (See  p.  403.)  It  is  of  most 
ancient  origin,  having  been  practically  applied  by  several 
of  the  great  nations  of  antiquity.  In  modern  times,  during 
the  French  Revolution,  it  was  tried  with  signal  failure, 
when  the  Constituent  Assembly  of  1789  decided  to  put  the 
whole  burden  of  taxation  on  the  land,  except  the  property 
tax  and  custom  duties. 

However  monstrous  and  absurd  the  present  scheme  of  Mr.  Henry- 
land  nationalization  may  at  first  thought  appear,  it  cannot  ^ee’s0f 
be  denied  that  its  idea  is  noble ; and  further,  it  must  be  land  nation- 
admitted  that  in  theory  this  scheme,  as  advanced  by  Mr.  curefor1  aS a 
Henry  George — in  essence  the  same  as  the  schemes  of  poverty. 
Stuart  Mill  and  Herbert  Spencer — is  unassailable  ; and 
were  the  elements  and  conditions  of  society  ideal  in  them- 
selves and  ideally  adjusted,  it  would  be  practicable  and  a 
blessing.  But  the  practical  solution  of  the  problem — in 
this  case  as  in  so  many  others — is  quite  different  from  the 
theoretical  one. 

If  we  investigate  the  scheme  of  land  nationalization  to  Neither  time, 
see  what  are  the  possibilities  for  its  becoming  a blessing,  nordpeopie 
we  are  faced  at  the  outset  with  conditions  most  unfit  ]£rePared 
and  people  most  unripe  for  so  profound  an  experi- 
ment. 

No  one  who  understands  human  character  expects  that 
the  landed  proprietors  would  yield  up  their  lands  merely 
because  of  a popular  demand.  Holders  of  the  land,  they 
hold  the  power,  and,  holding  the  power,  can  defy  public 
opinion.  A revolution,  therefore,  would  be  required,  a 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


terrible  and  bloody  revolution  for  dispossessing  tbe  land- 
lord. 

History  bas  shown  that  it  is  not  tbe  truest,  most  un- 
selfish, and  wise  men  who  lead  revolutions,  but  rather  those 
who  can  vie  with  and  surpass  the  masses  in  inflamed 
counsel,  in  passion,  in  unreflecting  hardihood,  brutality, 
and  crimes. 

And,  after  a successful  revolution,  what  then  ? 

In  the  stead  of  experienced  and  reflecting,  if  ofttimes 
hard  and  selfish,  governments,  we  should  find  an  ignorant, 
selfish,  bigoted  populace,  frenzied  and  seething  under  the 
new  tyrants,  self-substituted  for  the  former  masters  P And 
if  the  revolutionists  had  been  unanimous  in  their  vengeance 
upon  the  holders  of  land,  where  would  this  unanimity  be 
when  it  came  to  the  division  of  the  spoils  ? 

Violence,  arrogance,  greed,  these  are  the  motives  which 
actuate  and  appeal  to  the  masses  in  excited  times,  and 
these  would  naturally  be  the  characteristics  of  those  who, 
having  led  the  revolution,  would  next  assume  leadership 
in  shaping  the  new  order  of  things.  And  these  certainly 
are  not  the  men  most  qualified  to  reconstitute  humanity 
upon  a basis  of  liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity,  or  fitted 
to  recast  the  whole  mould  of  social  life  in  a harmonious 
correspondence  with  these  principles. 

The  wolf  is  not  the  fitting  guardian  of  the  sheepfold, 
nor  is  the  coarse,  brutal,  successful  revolutionist  the  right 
agent  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  helpless. 

Again,  such  a reconstruction  as  is  implied  by  land 
nationalization  would  require  years  and  years  of  peace  and 
tranquillity  for  its  realization.  It  would  require  not  only 
the  wisest,  firmest,  and  largest  harmonious  council  of  men, 
but  also  the  most  unselfish,  the  most  consistently  self- 
abnegating. 

O O ^ 

Where  are  these  men  to  be  found  ? Where  is  that 
great  body  of  officials  who  in  the  development  and  manage- 
ment of  this  subversive  experiment  would  need,  and 
indeed  could  have,  no  check  upon  their  activity,  but  that 
of  their  conscientiousness  ? 

There  is  not  enough  individual  unselfishness — cultivated 
and  practical  unselfishness — in  the  whole  range  of  humanity 
covered  under  the  word  civilization  to  stock  one  county 
or  state  with  enough  religion,  pure  and  undefiled,  enough 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


411 


of  neigkbourliness  such  as  the  Master  taught,  to  make  the 
land  nationalization  experiment  other  than  dangerously 
revolutionary,  and  one  whose  worst  effects  would  be 
suffered  by  its  noblest  npholders. 

Where  is  the  nation,  the  people,  ready  to  accept  all  the 
risks,  adversities,  and  innumerable  calamities  certain  to 
accompany  so  stupendous  a reconstruction  of  state  and 
society,  and  go  on  waiting  for  an  indefinite  period,  patiently 
for  the  outcome  ? 

Until  man  has  been  regenerated , thorough-going  schemes 
which  involve  a general  levelling  of  social  and  economic 
inequalities  and  distinctions  must  be  premature,  and  there- 
fore the  land  nationalization  as  now  proposed  is  out  of  the 
question ; selfishness  cannot  be  permanently  trusted  to 
guard  against  selfish  and  administer  unselfish  decrees.  Thefounda- 
And  the  foundation  of  any  individual  or  national  regene-  individual7 
ration  must  be  laid  in  temperance.  regeneration 

This  truth  was  inculcated  and  emphasized  in  the  first  must  be  laid 
plea  made  by  the  founder  of  the  modern  English  Temper-  ancemper" 
ance  movement,  Mr.  Joseph  Livesay  (The  Moral  Reformer, 

July  1,  1831),  in  these  words : “ While  drinking  continues, 
poverty  and  vice  will  prevail,  and  until  this  is  abandoned  no 
regulations,  no  efforts,  no  authority  under  heaven,  can  raise 
the  condition  of  the  working  classes.” 

Figures  speak  loudly  and  clearly  on  this  point.  In 
round  numbers  the  total  rents  in  the  United  Kingdom 
annually  for  farms  is  £60,000,000,  and  for  houses, 
£70,000,000,  and  the  cost  of  the  drink  traffic,  as  we  saw 
in  chap,  x.,  far  exceeds  both  these  sums  put  together. 

And  when  we  remember  that  the  increase  or  decrease  Suggestions 
of  this  enormous  drink  bill  has  depended  chiefly  upon  might  be 
opportunity,  that  it  has  increased  with  the  increase  of  expected, 
prosperity  and  decreased  with  the  decrease  of  prosperity,  it  land  natkm- 
seems  very  clear  which  reform,  drink  or  land  nationaliza- 
tion,  is  of  paramount  importance  to  the  nation.  For  accomplished 
were  'land  nationalization  realized  without  temperance,  temperance 
the  enormously  widened  opportunity  for  drink  would  reform, 
soon  show,  in  overflowing  lists  of  poverty,  insanity,  and 
crime,  how  idle  must  all  schemes  of  reform  be  which  are 
not  based,  in  the  first  instance,  on  the  self-control  of  the 
individual,  the  very  power  which  drink  most  fatally 
destroys. 


412 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  Evening 
Standard’s 
description 
of  the  scenes 
around  the 
casks  thrown 


Commenting  on  the  appalling  Black  List  of  drink 
criminality  occurring  in  England  during  the  last  week  of 
1883  and  the  first  week  of  1884,  and  summarized  in  the 
Alliance  News,  the  Grimsby  News  says — 

“ Mr.  Henry  George  is  going  up  and  down  lecturing 
about  ‘ Progress  and  Poverty,’  and  telling  us  that  all  the 
evils  from  which  we  suffer  may  be  directly  or  indirectly 
traced  to  our  land  laws.  Surely,  even  Mr.  George  must  see 
that  no  reform  in  land  laws  can  do  imich  for  a nation  that 
'permits  itself  to  be  demoralized  in  this  way  by  the  traffic  in 
strong  drink.  We  spend  twice  as  much  on  drink  as  on 
rent,  and  the  results  are  before  us  in  this  blackest  of  black 
lists.  Talk  of  our  people  now  being  able  to  enjoy  them- 
selves ‘ rationally ; ’ howr  can  this  be  affirmed  so  long  as  in 
two  short  weeks  we  produce  results  like  these  in  our  towns 
and  cities  P Some  one  has  said  that  so  long  as  we  drink 
bitter  ale,  our  cities  must  send  up  their  ‘ Bitter  Cry,’  and 
we  believe  this  is  the  sober  truth.  The  other  day  Mr. 
Chamberlain  told  the  shipowners  of  this  country  that  the 
present  loss  of  life  among  our  seamen  could  not  be  any 
longer  allowed  to  go  on,  and  that  Parliament  must  take 
decided  action.  It  is  high  time  that  some  one  said  the 
same  thing  about  the  loss  of  life  and  character  and  pro- 
sperity through  the  drink  traffic.  The  fact  is,  we  are  as  a 
nation  thoroughly  demoralized  by  this  bloated  interest.” 

It  is  not  easy  to  picture  what  the  condition  of  this 
nation  would  be  were  the  scheme  of  land  nationalization 
to  be  accomplished  without  having  been  preceded  by 
thorough  temperance  reform  and  that  establishment  of 
individual  self-control,  of  sanity  of  mind  and  conscience 
inseparable  from  true  temperance  reform.  The  results 
likely  to  spring  from  those  ample  opportunities  for  un- 
limited supplies  of  drink,  which  the  prosperity  promised 
to  the  individual  by  the  land  nationalization  scheme 
would  afford,  may  be  partly  understood  from  a considera- 
tion of  the  scenes  described  in  our  papers  and  journals  as 
occurring  at  Brighton  beach,  early  in  1884.  I quote  the 
following  from  the  Evening  Standard  (Pebruary  7,  1884)  : — 
“ The  disgusting  scenes  which  took  place  near  Brighton, 
consequent  upon  some  casks  of  beer  and  spirits  from  the 
ill-fated  Simla  being  washed  ashore,  are  enough  to  excite 
wonder  as  to  how  much  a man  is,  even  in  the  nineteenth 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


413 


century,  the  superior  of  the  beasts.  It  is  a humiliating 
fact  that  there  is  a considerable  portion  of  the  population 
who,  if  given  free  access  to  intoxicants,  will  drink  until 
they  fall  insensible.  The  crowd  on  the  beach  near  Brighton 
fell  upon  the  casks  like  wild  beasts,  numbers  became  in- 
toxicated, many  would  have  been  drowned  had  not  the 
coastguard  dragged  them  beyond  the  reach  of  the  advancing 
tide,  several  had  the  narrowest  of  escapes  of  death  from 
the  quantity  of  spirits  they  had  swallowed,  and  one  man 
actually  died.  It  would  seem,  then,  that  it  is  from  no 
consideration  of  decency,  morality,  or  self-respect  that 
a vast  number  of  men  are  restrained  from  drinking  to 
a point  of  intoxication,  but  that  it  is  simply  a question  of 
expense.  Given  free  liquor,  and  a mad  debauch  is  in- 
dulged in.  Such  a fact  as  this  seems  to  show  that  all  our 
boasted  advances,  all  the  moral  benefits  of  an  extending 
education,  all  the  conventional  restraints  of  society  are 
but  surface  deep,  and  that,  given  temptation — that  is, 
liquor  without  having  to  pay  for  it — a disgusting  carouse, 
which  would  disgrace  the  dwellers  on  a savage  island,  is 
the  result.” 

Unfortunately,  this  record  by  no  means  stands  alone. 
The  Weymouth  and  Portland  Guardian,  in  relating  the 
scenes  which  followed  upon  the  rescue  of  the  cargo  of  the 
Royal  Adelaide,  wrecked  in  the  winter  of  1872,  says : 
“ Amongst  the  cargo  of  the  Royal  Adelaide  were  a large 
number  of  casks  and  bottles  of  spirits,  and  these,  with  the 
rest  of  the  cargo,  have  been  constantly  coming  ashore.  At 
the  time  of  the  rescue  of  the  passengers  and  crew  there 
were  a number  of  fishermen  and  others  who  exerted  them- 
selves nobly,  worked  most  indefatigably,  and  deserved  the 
highest  praise.  When,  therefore,  the  wreckage  began 
coming  ashore,  some  spirit  casks  were  broken  open  for  the 
refreshment  of  the  men.  The  coastguardsmen  and  others, 
too,  remained  in  charge  of  the  salved  goods  during  the 
whole  of  Monday  night.  . . . What  was  our  astonishment, 
on  visiting  the  beach  next  morning,  to  find  that  not  only 
did  the  wreck  of  the  vessel  present  a very  melancholy 
aspect,  but  that  there  was  a much  more  appalling  and 
heart-sickening  sight  on  the  beach,  viz.,  men  lying  about 
in  all  directions  in  a state  of  the  most  beastly  intoxication. 
. . . Men  were  found  lying  insensible  beside  a cask  of 


ashore  from 
the  Simla, 
on  Brighton 
beach. 


Similar 
scenes  fol- 
lowing the 
rescue  of  the 
cargo  of  the 
wrecked 
Royal 
Adelaide. 


414 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Mr.  Joseph 
Cowen  on 
the  para- 
mount im- 
portance of 
sobriety. 


spirits,  or  with  flasks,  bottles,  and  other  vessels  beneath 
them.  In  the  vicinity  of  two  or  three  casks  there  were 
two  men  lying  head  to  head  in  this  condition.  The  first 
fatal  case  was  that  of  a lad  employed  as  errand  boy  by 
a Weymouth  grocer.  Then  we  heard  of  a man  named 
Smith,  who  was  not  expected  to  live  another  hour.  On 
proceeding  to  the  Ferry  Bridge,  we  saw  two  men,  one  of 
whom  was  just  brought  from  the  beach  insensible  and  died 
immediately,  and  the  other  of  whom  had  been  lying  in 
a state  of  insensibility  for  upwards  of  three  hours.”  And 
the  Temperance  Record  (December  7,  1872),  in  an  article  on 
Drinking  Disasters  and  Shipwrecks , says : “ On  the  Irish 
coast,  after  the  recent  wreck  of  the  Kinsdale,  upwards  of 
eighty  men  were  lying  in  a state  of  stupor  from  the  horrible 
effects  of  the  drink  extracted  from  a hundred  and  fifty 
barrels  of  ale  that  had  been  washed  ashore.” 

How  true  are  Richard  Cobden’s  words,  that  “ the 
temperance  cause  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  social  and 
political  reform  ” ! 

As  Mr.  Joseph  Cowen,  M.P.,  said,  when  addressing 
a Blue  Ribbon  meeting  at  Newcastle- on- Tyne  (January  19), 
“ Neither  franchises  nor  education  nor  social  transforma- 
tions will,  of  themselves,  keep  people  sober ; and  sobriety 
must  precede  all  moral,  mental,  and  political  reformation, 
if  that  reformation  is  to  be  real.”  * 


Dr.  Chan- 
ning  on  the 
reforming 
power  of 
innocent 
pleasures 
and  amuse- 
ments. 


§ 94.  There  is  a great  lack  of  innocent  and  cheap 
amusement  for  the  masses,  and  a fatal  plenty  of  cheap 
amusements  which  are  not  innocent. 

“ Innocent  pleasure,”  says  Dr.  Charming  (op.  cit.),  “ has 
not  been  sufficiently  insisted  on.  ...  A people  should  be 
guarded  against  temptation  to  unlawful  pleasures  by  furnish- 
ing the  means  of  innocent  ones,  such  as  produce  a cheerful 
frame  of  mind,  such  as  refresh  instead  of  exhausting  the 
system,  such  as  recur  frequently  rather  than  continue  long, 
such  as  send  ns  back  to  our  daily  duties  invigorated  in  body 
and  mind.  . . . Such  as  we  can  enjoy  in  the  presence  and 
society  of  respectable  friends ; such  as  are  chastened  with 
self-respect,  and  accompanied  with  the  consciousness  that 
life  has  a higher  end  than  to  be  amused.  ...  In  every 
community  there  must  be  pleasures  and  relaxations  and 
* Eeport  in  Good  Templar’s  Watchword,  February  4,  1S84. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


415 


means  of  agreeable  excitement,  and  if  innocent  ones  are 
not  furnished,  resort  will  be  bad  to  criminal.  Man  was 
made  to  enjoy  as  well  as  to  labour,  and  tbe  state  of  society 
should  be  adapted  to  this  principle  of  human  nature.” 

He  speaks  earnestly  of  the  humanizing  power  of  music,* 
its  influence  in  homes  and  in  public  assemblies,  to  protect 
from  the  vice  of  drink  and  its  kindred  dissipations.  Of 
the  stage,  he  says,  “ The  drama  answers  a high  purpose 
when  it  places  us  in  the  presence  of  the  most  solemn  and 
striking  events  of  human  history,  and  lays  bare  to  us  the 
human  heart  in  its  most  powerful,  appalling,  and  glorious 
workings.” 

A play  of  this  kind,  which  occupied  with  an  almost 
unexampled  success  the  boards  of  the  Princess’s  Theatre, 
London,  for  a year  (1888),  is  the  Silver  King,  a modern 
melodrama  much  in  advance  of  recent  popular  works  of 
this  class.  In  this  play,  Mr.  Wilson  Barrett,  probably  the 
best  living  representative  of  the  higher  moral  purposes 
and  poetic  possibilities  of  dramatic  art,  powerfully  portrays 
the  story  of  a man  who  drinks  away  his  chances  and  pro- 
spects, the  peace  of  his  young  wife,  and  the  livelihood  of 
his  children,  while  he  is  yet  young. 

But  he  is  brought  to  bay  by  the  occurrence  of  a murder 
of  which  he  is  innocent,  but  which  he  supposes  himself  to 
have  committed  while  in  a drunken  frenzy. 

His  dreadful  situation  and  the  shame  and  anguish  he 
has  brought  upon  his  faithful  wife  and  little  ones  com- 
pletely sober  him.  Another  clever  turn  in  the  plot,  by 
which  he  is  supposed  to  have  perished  in  a burning  car 
while  fleeing  from  justice,  gives  him  the  opportunity  to 

* At  the  invitation  of  Mrs.  Ellicott,  a meeting  of  the  Popular 
Ballad  Concert  Committee  was  held  on  Saturday,  in  the  drawing-room 
of  No.  35,  Great  Cumberland  Place,  Hyde  Park.  The  Bishop  of 
Gloucester  and  Bristol  presided.  Mrs.  Ernest  Hart,  the  honorary 
secretary,  gave  an  account  of  the  movement,  and  spoke  of  the  success- 
ful formation  of  choral  classes,  in  which  the  students  were  all  young 
men  and  women  working  in  shops  and  factories.  Lord  Brabazon, 
Sir  Julius  Benedict,  Mr.  Samuel  Morley,  M.P.,  Mr.  Edmund  Gurney, 
Mr.  Horsfall,  Dr.  Norman  Kerr,  and  others  spoke  in  support  of 
resolutions  commending  the  objects  of  the  society  to  general  support. 
— Temperance  Record  (April,  1883).  And  the  Saturday  concerts  in 
Exeter  Hall,  under  the  management  of  the  National  Temperance 
League,  during  this  and  last  winter,  have  done  much  to  wean  the 
working  people  of  London  from  the  public-house. 


The  power 
and  province 
of  the  stage 
in  this 
direction. 


The  moral 
and  refining 
influence 
of  the 
Princess’s 
Theatre 
under  the 
management 
of  Mr.  Wilson 
Barrett. 


416 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


repent  and  reform,  of  which  he  avails  himself.  In  the 
scenes  which  portray  the  moral  descent,  the  abrupt  shock, 
and  the  moral  recovery,  there  is  a forceful  illustration  of 
the  impossibility  of  worthy  character  not  based  on  self- 
control  and  just  regard  to  the  rights  of  others ; and  there 
is  preached  a painfully  impressive  yet  hopeful  sermon  on 
the  curse  of  drink.  The  men  who  write,  the  artists  who 
present  such  a play,  do  a distinct  and  signal  service  to 
humanity. 

Another  play  called  Drinlc  (an  adaptation  by  the  late 
Mr.  Charles  Reade,  of  L’ A.ssommoir') , as  presented  at  the 
Adel  phi,  London,  with  Charles  Warner  in  the  leading  role , 
pictured  the  career  of  this  vice  in  making  total  wreck 
of  the  mental,  moral,  and  physical  qualities  of  the  hero  in 
a manner  almost  too  terrible  to  contemplate. 

The  lesson  and  the  warning  conveyed  in  this  play 
would,  perhaps,  be  less  deterrent  to  those  in  sorest  need 
of  such  admonition,  the  very  hopelessness  of  the  total 
impression  being  calculated  rather  to  palsy  than  to  spur 
the  flagging  will  and  limp  moral  impulse  characteristic 
of  the  victims  of  this  vice.  But  to  those  not  yet  come 
under  its  thrall,  the  spectacle  is  one  to  withhold  them  even 
from  the  verge  of  danger.  That  many  witnesses  of  both 
these  plays,  sought  merely  for  sensation,  and  canned 
nothing  away  with  them  beyond  the  satisfaction  of  the 
moment,  or  went  from  them  to  public-houses  to  drink  in 
mockery  or  bravado,  or  to  dull  uncomfortable  flutterings 
of  conscience  and  reason,  does  not  alter  the  fact  that  good 
lessons  were  taught,  and  most  effectively  illustrated,  to  a 
large  majority  capable  of  appreciating  and  remembering 
them. 

But  this  question  of  healthy  amusement,  and  elevating 
recreation  does  not  stop  with  music  and  the  drama. 
Human  ingenuity  has  by  no  means  exhausted  itself ; hardly 
can  it  be  said  to  have  as  yet  really  taxed  itself  in  the 
provision  of  amusements  which  inspire  and  recreate  as 
well  as  please.  In  this  direction  most  effective  and  blessed 
work  against  the  evil  of  drink  can  and  ought  to  be 
done.* 

* Addressing  Parliament  in  April,  1866,  Mr.  J.  A.  Roebuck,  M.P., 
said,  “ You  close  the  picture-galleries  and  museums  on  holidays  and 
feast  days,  but  yon  leave  wide  open  the  gin-shop  and  the  beer-shop  ; 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


417 


In  his  address  to  the  schools  at  Liverpool  (January  26,  The  late 
1884),  the  late  Duke  of  Albany  said,  “ I shall  be  glad  to  Aibanyon 
say  a few  words  here  about  the  pleasures  of  the  poor  and  the  duty  of 
the  part  that  the  rich  may  fitly  take  in  providing  them,  providing* 
For  I believe  that  there  are  some  persons — not  careless  pleasure  for 
or  unkind  persons  only,  but  what  may  be  called  profes-  e p°"r' 
sional  philanthropists — who  hold  that  any  attempt  to 
provide  the  poor  with  music,  flowers,  and  amusements,  and 
the  like,  is  merely  foolish  and  sentimental,  and  that  our 
duty  to  them  lies  only  in  the  more  serious  region  of  educa- 
tion, religion,  and  so  on.  This  is  a point  of  view  which 
I can  never  quite  understand.  I cannot  understand  how  a 
man  can  feel  himself  so  separate  from  his  felloiv- creatures  as 
to  think  that  the  pleasures  which  are  quite  worth  his  attention 
in  his  own  case  can  become  mere  superfluous  trivialities  in  the 
case  of  the  poor  men  and  women  and  children  iclio  have  so 
f 'ew  pleasures  in  all  their  lives.” 

“ One  of  the  most  valuable  of  the  reports  on  Intemper- 
ance,”  says  the  Newcastle  Chronicle  (November  23,  1880),  chronicle 
“ is  that  of  nearly  forty  years  ago  of  a House  of  Commons  °? the  PJ°- 

j j j o _ vision  of 

Committee,  and  it  suggested  the  multiplication  of  free  amusements 
libraries,  of  free  parks,  of  public  museums,  and  of  allied  ondrinfc4nd 
institutions;  and  though  these  maybe  costly  to  the  nation,  crime, 
they  are  less  costly  and  less  burdensome  to  the  ratepayer 
than  that  appalling  amount  of  drunkenness  which  feeds 
crime  and  staggers  the  imagination  to  realize  its  horrible 
extent  and  effect.  The  beat  of  the  wings  of  this  destroy- 
ing angel  are  now  on  the  air,  and,  as  in  Egypt  of  old,  we 
may  have  the  result  that  there  is  not  a house  where  there 
is  not  one  as  dead  through  this  vice.” 

§ 95.  Irrespective  of  state  and  society  generally,  there  The  great 
are  several  public  bodies  whose  influence  greatly  affects  this  bnity  IM~ 

evil  of  drink.  One  such  body  consists  of  the  local  magis-  resting  upon 

' . . o magistrates 

trates  who  issue  the  annual  liquor  licenses.  This  body  is  physicians,’ 

vested  with  great  authority,  and  could  accomplish  much  clergy 6 in 
if  imbued  with  an  earnest  patriotism  and  desire  to  do  their  regard  to 
part  in  diminishing  the  drink  curse,  and  that  the  public  evih™1* 
would  support  them  in  efforts  at  reducing  the  number  of 
licensed  public-houses  seems  probable  from  the  steadily 

hating  convivial  meetings,  you  make  the  people  unsocial  drunkards. 

The  gin-shop  you  love,  because  it  increases  your  revenue.” 

2 E 


418 


TI-IE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  re- 
sponsibility 
of  the  Church 
in  regard  to 
the  drink 
evil. 


increasing  number  of  petitions  from  various  counties  to 
Parliament  for  local  option  or  other  means  restricting  the 
liquor  trade,  and  from  boroughs  to  magistrates  for  reduc- 
tion of  licenses. 

Last  year  offered  a conspicuous  example  of  public 
sympathy  with  such  measures.  The  magistrates  of  Rother- 
ham, who  refused  to  renew  a number  of  off-licenses  in  that 
borough,  were  by  an  overwhelming  majority  supported  in 
their  decision  in  a meeting  called  to  censure  their  action. 

Then  there  are  two  great  professional  bodies  upon 
whom  we  might  almost  say  it  ultimately  depends  whether 
this  drink  evil  shall  be  utterly  conquered,  i.e.,  the  physicians 
and  the  clergy.  The  physician’s  prescription  extends 
over  the  life  of  man  from  conception  to  the  grave.  If  the 
physicians,  as  a body,  persist  in  using  alcoholic  medicines, 
and  as  long  as  they  do  so,  we  may  be  able  to  check  or 
considerably  diminish  it,  but  uproot  it — never  ! 

But  the  physicians,  as  we  have  seen,  are  rapidly  be- 
coming unanimous,  both  in  opinion  and  practice,  that 
alcohol  under  nearly  all  circumstances  is  hurtful  to 
organic  life,  and  it  is  a happy  omen  that  a great  many  of 
the  young  students  of  medicine  are  total  abstainers. 

Just  as  the  State  is  largely  interested  in  the  success  of 
the  liquor  traffic  because  of  the  revenues  it  brings  in,  so  also 
is  the  Church,  materially  speaking,  even  more  concerned 
than  the  State  in  this  traffic,  because  of  contributions, 
tithes,  educational  and  religious  endowments,  by  dealers, 
and  because  of  large  ownership  in  public-house  property. 

In  the  days  when  this  relation  of  things  was  first  estab- 
lished, drink,  as  we  know,  wTas  regarded  as  a legitimate 
and  rational  exhilaration  of  the  senses  ; it  was  even  called 
that  “good  creature  of  God,”  and  coupled  with  His  IVord 
in  the  phrase  “ Beer  and  the  Bible.” 

This  notion,  though  not  dissipated  everywhere  even 
yet,*  has  been  vigorously  pushed  from  its  vantage  in  the 
centre  of  general  acceptance  by  the  broad  shoulders  of 
Progress,  the  knowledge  now  universal,  whether  welcome 

* The  Alliance  News  (November  24,  1S83)  reports  Mr.  H.  E. 
Edwards  as  saying,  in  an  address  to  a conference  of  licensed 
victuallers  in  Birmingham,  November  7,  “ It  used  to  be  1 Beer  and  the 
Bible.’  Now  the  Church  says,  ‘ Kick  the  beer-barrel  away.’  The 
beer-barrel,  however,  will  stand  as  long  as  the  Church.” 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


419 


or  not,  that  alcohol  is  always  poison  to  body  and  mind, 
and  even  especially  to  the  latter. 

Thus  no  alternative  is  left  open  to  the  Church  but  that 
of  severing  itself  from  all  association  with  it,  and  it  must 
be  admitted  that  it  has  set  bravely  to  work  to  do  this. 

When  the  modern  temperance  movement  first  began  to 
obtain  hold  of  the  public  heart  of  England,  the  Church 
opposed  it  strenuously,  and  the  bitterness  against  it  may 
be  said  to  have  reached  its  height  when  the  Evangelical 
Alliance  of  Edinburgh  proposed,  in  1847,  as  subjects  for 
discussion — “ How  far  the  study  of  physical  facts  led  to 
infidelity,  and  the  connection  betwixt  teetotalism  and  in- 
fidelity.” In  1862,  some  two  hundred  clergymen,  headed 
by  Canon  Henry  J.  Ellison,  initiated  a church  temperance 
movement,  which,  chiefly  owing  to  the  devotion,  enthu- 
siasm, tact,  and  capacity  of  Canon  Ellison,  has  strengthened 
and  spread  until  now  it  virtually  embraces  the  largest 
portion  of  the  Church  of  England.  Of  this  movement, 
known  as  the  Church  of  England  Temperance  Society, 
the  Queen  is  patron,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  is 
president ; all  the  bishops  are  enrolled  under  its  banners, 
and  Canon  Ellison  is  still  its  chairman. 

When  called  before  the  Lord’s  Committee  in  1880, 
Canon  Ellison  said — 

“ I call  your  lordships’  attention  to  the  prayer  of 
14,000  clergy,  from  whom  I believe  the  call  for  this  com- 
mittee originated.  In  their  memorial  to  the  bishops  they 
ask  this : ‘We,  the  undersigned,  clergy  of  the  Church  of 
England,  venture  respectfully  to  appeal  to  your  lordships, 
as  the  only  members  of  our  order  in  Parliament,  as  such, 
most  earnestly  to  support  measures  of  the  further  restric- 
tion of  the  trade  in  intoxicating  liquors  in  this  country. 
We  are  convinced,  most  of  us,  from  an  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  the  people,  extending  over  many  years,  that 
their  condition  can  never  be  greatly  improved,  whether 
intellectually,  physically,  or  religiously,  so  long  as  in- 
temperance extensively  prevails  among  them ; and  that 
intemperance  will  prevail  so  long  as  temptations  to  it 
abound  on  every  side.’  I cannot  help  saying  that  seeing 
that  the  excessive  drinking  of  this  country  now  is  of  such 
a wholesale  character,  and  has  its  roots  so  very  deeply  in 
the  habits  of  the  population,  you  must  attack  it  upon 


The  origin 
and  growth 
of  the  Church 
of  England 
temperance 
movement. 


The  earnest 
appeal,  in  the 
name  of  the 
Church  of 
England 
Temperance 
Society,  to 
the  Lord’s 
Committee 
of  1880,  by 
Canon  Henry 
J.  Ellison, 
chairman^of 
the  society, 
for  effective 
legislation  in 
favour  of 
temperance. 


420 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Archbishop 
Benson’s 
position  re- 
garding 
temperance 
reform. 


every  side.  We  believe  it  is  like  a great  fortress — it  must 
be  attacked  by  investment,  by  mine,  by  sap,  and  by  direct 
attack ; but  whatever  other  agencies  may  be  used,  the 
strong  conviction  of  all  those  who,  like  myself,  have  been 
engaged  in  parochial  temperance  work  for  many  years,  is, 
that  we  can  do  very  little  without  the  assistance  of  the 
legislature ; that  so  long  (as  this  memorial  says)  as  the 
temptations  exist  to  the  extent  that  they  do  exist  now,  we 
shall  scarcely  be  able  to  make  any  impression  upon  the 
intemperance  of  the  country.” 

When  the  present  president  was  the  Archbishop- 
Designate,  he  wrote  from  Truro  (January  13,  1883),  that 
he  would  “gladly  and  anxiously  use  any  opportunities 
which  the  new  position  to  which  God  has  called  him  in 
the  Church  may  give  him  to  promote  by  legislation  and 
other  means  the  cause  of  temperance  in  this  country."’ 
And  now,  in  the  beginning  of  the  second  year  of  his 
great  responsibilities  as  the  Primate  of  all  England,  he  has 
preached  a temperance  gospel  which  will  make  the  record 
of  his  archiepiscopate  grow  ever  brighter  in  the  widening 
light  of  man’s  advancement,  as  the  years  of  reform  and 
progress  come  gathering  in  with  their  blessings  of  en- 
lightenment to  the  genei’ations  we  woi’k  and  hope  for,  but 
shall  not  see  in  the  flesh.  On  the  occasion  of  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  Church  of  England  Temperance  Society, 
held  at  Lambeth  Palace,  April  29,  1884,  he  said — 

“ All  England  is  caring  about  the  housing  of  the  poor 
of  London  and  the  great  towns,  and  must  do  its  utmost 
to  put  the  poor  into  decent  dwellings.  But  then,  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  what  good  will  this  have  done  if  you  have 
not  taught  the  people  to  abstain  from  drink  ? To  go  in 
for  housing  the  poor  properly  is  a pressing  duty,  but  with 
all  the  cleanliness  and  regulation  that  you  introduce  you 
know  it  will  be  in  vain  unless  you  can  teach  the  people  to 
keep  themselves  temperate.  Do  not  let  us  be  content  with 
sweeping  and  garnishing  the  house.  We  have  it  upon  our 
Lord’s  word  what  that  comes  to  when  it  is  done  by  itself. 
We  must  get  a good  spirit  into  the  house  if  we  wish  the 
seven  spirits  not  to  come  back — spirits  of  evil  in  sevenfold 
force,  remember,  and  much  more  wicked  than  the  first. 
It  would  be  but  sweeping  and  garnishing  if  we  clean  and 
clear  and  rebuild  those  houses,  and  do  not  teach  the  people 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


421 


to  be  sober.  . . . In  no  past  time  had  the  preachers  of  the 
gospel  to  contend  with  the  demon  of  drink  as  they  have 
in  this  age  of  ours.  To  accept  the  gospel,  to  live  con- 
scientiously under  the  precepts  of  the  gospel,  to  be  fol- 
lowers of  Christ,  to  be  built  on  the  foundation  of  the 
apostles  and  prophets,  and  to  drink  ! The  two  things 
cannot  co-exist.  We  must  drive  out  the  spirit  of  drink 
by  the  Spirit  of  the  gospel.  Veiled  or  unveiled,  drink 
must  be  driven  out,  or  else  we  have  what  we  may  call 
whole  countries  and  whole  regions  inaccessible  to  the  woi’d 
of  truth.”  * 

On  the  19th  of  November,  1883,  the  Church  of  England 
Temperance  Society  celebrated  its  twenty-first  anniversary, 
and  the  sermon  delivered  by  Canon  Farrar  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  if  indicating  the  real  spirit  of  the  Church  on  the 
subject  of  temperance,  shows  that  this  society  has  nobly 
understood  its  mission. 

In  calling  for  funds  for  the  labours  of  the  coming  year, 
the  society  thus  explains  its  purpose : — 

“ To  send  into  every  diocese  a resident  and  efficient  The  pur- 

. . , ^ poses  and 

organizing  agent.  mission  of 

“ To  carry  on  the  rescue  work  of  the  society  by  earnest, 
devoted  police-court  missionaries.  Temperance 

“ To  establish  army,  naval,  workshop,  servants’,  and  Society' 
cabmen’s  branches. 

“ To  prosecute  the  work  of  the  branch  in  connection 
with  the  missions  to  seamen  society. 

“ To  supply  tracts,  leaflets,  and  publications  for  general 
circulation. 

“ To  send  gratuitously  to  clubs,  schools,  institutions, 
and  colleges,  copies  of  the  weekly  Chronicle. 

“ To  assist  in  providing  coffee  and  cocoa  stalls  and 
barrows,  ninety  of  which  have  been  sent  out. 

“ To  aid  in  the  introduction  of  temperance  teaching 
into  colleges  and  schools. 

“ To  promote  wise  and  remedial  legislation  as  embodied 
in  the  society’s  proposed  bill. 

“ To  form  diocesan,  parochial,  and  juvenile  branch 
societies. 

“To  send  outfit  and  competent  deputations  (clerical 


Temperance  Record,  May  1,  1884. 


422 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  Bishop 
of  Carlisle  on 
the  success  of 
the  labours 
of  this 
society  (St. 
James’s 
Hall,  No- 
vember 20, 
1883). 


Canon  Basil 
Wilberforce 
in  denuncia- 
tion of 


and  lay),  and  generally  to  extend  the  objects  of  the  society 
by  moral,  social,  and  educational  means.” 

At  the  society’s  breakfast  the  next  morning  (November 
20,  1883),  in  St.  James’s  Hall,  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  in 
alluding  to  the  activity  of  the  Church  in  the  directions  of 
relief  and  education,  said — 

“ It  would  be  in  vain  to  attempt  an  enumeration  of  all 
the  works  now  going  on  quietly  in  parishes  under  the 
direction  of  the  clergy — works  of  which  the  world  knows 
nothing  beyond  the  limits  of  the  parish.  I will  mention 
the  works  going  on  in  one  metropolitan  parish,  the  report 
of  which  lies  before  me.  (1)  The  whole  machinery  of 
confirmation,  including  classes  in  which  young  and  old 
are  prepared ; (2)  instruction  classes,  in  which  the  Scrip- 
tures are  taught  and  good  books  circulated ; (3)  a provident 
club ; (4)  working  classes,  in  which  the  poor  are  taught 
habits  of  industry ; (5)  parochial  mission ; (6)  a society 
for  aid  during  illness  ; (7)  a society  for  visiting  the  poor 
and  aiding  their  distress  ; (8)  a society  for  aiding  church 
singing ; (9)  guilds  for  men  and  old  and  young  women, 
and  promoting  their  religious  welfare;  (10)  mothers’ 
meetings  for  the  study  of  good  books  ; (ll)  dispensaries 
and  aids  for  the  sick ; (12)  a society  for  district  visitors 
and  their  meetings  ; (13)  meetings  for  school  teachers  and 
Sunday  school  teachers;'  (14)  ragged  and  night  schools, 
and  them  support ; (15)  soup  kitchen  for  the  poor ; 
(16)  societies  for  waifs  and  strays,  or  children  deserted 
by  their  parents;  (17)  working  men’s  benefit  societies; 
(18)  multitudinous  Christian  charities  supported  by  en- 
dowment or  subscription  ; (19)  needlework  society  ; (20) 
penny  banks ; (21)  young  men’s  friendly  society  for  pro- 
moting wholesome  amusement  for  Sunday  evenings  ; (22) 
juvenile  guild — a branch  of  the  same ; (23)  a confraternity 
society  for  communicants ; (24)  young  men’s  friendly 

society ; (25)  a branch  of  the  C.  E.  T.  S. ; (26)  a society 
in  aid  of  the  propagation  of  the  gospel.  Such  are  the 
works  going  on  quietly  and  unostentatiously  in  connection 
with  one  Church.”  * 

On  every  hand  clergymen  with  the  courage  to  speak 
and  act  in  accordance  with  their  convictions  are  coming  to 
the  front.  Writing  to  the  late  Archbishop  Tait  of  Carnter- 
* Church  of  England  Temperance  Chronicle,  November  2-1,  1SS3. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


423 


bury,  in  July,  1882,  Canon  Basil  Wilberforce  denounced  Church  pro- 
the  holding  'by  tbe  Church  of  property  in  public-houses.  f"pnbiic-P 
Since  then,  in  various  places,  public-houses  belonging  to  houses, 
the  Church  have  been  closed. 

Says  the  Temperance  Record  (November  8,  1883) — 

“ A public-house  of  rather  a low  class,  the  Golden  Practical  ex- 

t iii  i pvession  by 

Lion,  in  Gravel  Lane,  Southwark,  has  lately  been  vacated  theEcciesi- 
by  its  tenant,  and  the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners,  to  missfoner™’ 
whom  the  premises  belong,  in  their  desire  to  minimize  their  of  their  in- 
interest in  public-house  property,  have  let  it  for  half  the  promotion  of 
rent  offered  by  a firm  of  brewers  to  Mr.  Fegan,  of  the  Boys’  ^Pjr“"ace 
Home,  Southwark,  who  proposes  to  open  it  as  a place  of  tiou  ( Tem - 
recreation  for  working  boys  in  this  densely  crowded  No_ 

district,  so  that  it  will  become  a boon  instead  of  a pest  vember  8, 
to  the  neighbourhood.  The  Golden  Lion  adjoins  Mr.  18831 
Fegan’s  Home,  and  is  now  being  rapidly  prepared  for  its 
new  career.” 

The  Dean  of  Westminster  recently  told  me  that  he  had 
closed  and  pulled  down  a public-house  in  Westminster. 

The  most  important  and  most  difficult  question  which  The  question 
confronts  the  Church  is  that  of  the  use  of  wine  in  the  whie^ifthef 
Lord’s  Supper.  Numbers  of  clergymen  ha.ve,  in  obedience  Lord's 
to  their  convictions,  introduced  into  this  rite  in  their  own 
churches  the  use  of  non-intoxicating  instead  of  intoxicating 
wine.  I have  been  told  that  the  Bishop  of  London  grants 
absolute  freedom  to  the  clergy  of  his  diocese  as  to  the 
character  of  the  wine  used  in  the  Communion. 

In  the  Convocations  of  Canterbury  last  July  (1883) 
the  subject  came  up  for  decision. 

An  appeal  was  made  from  the  Lower  House  “ praying  ” The  decision 
that  the  Upper  House  should  “ take  such  measures  as  they  House  intbe 
may  deem  best  for  checking  such  innovation  ” (of  using  Convocations 
unfermented  wine  in  the  Lord’s  Supper).  In  the  answer  bury,  July, 
we  read,  “ This  House  is  of  opinion  that  agitation  of  any  1883- 
question  on  so  sacred  a subject  is  much  to  be  deprecated, 
as  tending  to  distress  many  religious  persons,  to  unsettle 
the  weak,  and  even  to  lead  to  schism  ; that  it  is  quite 
unnecessary  to  raise  the  question  referred  to  in  the 
gravamen,  inasmuch  as  the  Church,  though  always  in- 
sisting on  the  use  of  wine  in  the  Holy  Communion,  has 
never  prescribed  the  strength  or  weakness  of  the  wine  to 
be  used,  and,  consequently,  it  is  always  possible  to  deal 


424 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Modern  dis- 
coveries— 
as  to  the 
nature  and 
effects  of 
alcohol — 
leave  no 
alternative 
to  the 

conscientious 

clergyman. 


with  even  extreme  cases  without  departing  from  the 
custom  observed  by  the  Church ; and  that  it  is,  there- 
fore, most  convenient  that  the  clergy  should  conform  to 
ancient  and  unbroken  usage,  and  should  discountenance 
all  attempts  to  deviate  from  it  ” ( Chronicle  of  Convocation, 
1883).* 

Thus  the  representative  body  of  the  Church  of  England, 
though  deprecating  agitation  on  the  subject  of  the  use  of 
unfermented  wine,  does  not  positively  condemn  it.  This 
is  a great  step,  because  this  issue,  once  having  become 
debatable,  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  its  ultimate  settle- 
ment. Both  intoxicating  and  unfermented  wines  were  used 
by  the  Jews  in  the  time  of  Christ,  but  we  possess  no  know- 
ledge whether  the  wine  used  by  Jesus  in  the  last  supper 
was  intoxicating  or  unfermented.  The  best  Hebrew 
authorities,  living  and  past,  either  regard  intoxicating  or 
unfei’mented  wines  as  equally  lawful  in  Passover,  or  lean 
in  the  direction  of  the  unfermented,  inasmuch  as  fermented 
(leavened)  food  was  forbidden  at  Passover.  Therefoi'e 
either  complete  liberty  as  to  the  use  of  intoxicating  or  un- 
fermented  wines  at  the  Lord’s  Supper  must  be  granted,  or, 
to  be  consistent,  the  use  of  wine  at  all  must  be  abandoned. 

But  aside  from  the  question  of  the  nature  of  the  wine 
used  by  Jesus,  modern  discoveries  as  to  the  nature  and 
effects  of  alcohol  leave  but  one  alternative  in  the  use  of 
wine  to  any  conscientious  clergyman. 

Jesus,  when  He  took  the  cup  and  asked  His  disciples  to 
drink  in  remembrance  of  Him,  was  the  same  Jesus  who 
died  on  the  cross  that  He  might  save  sinners,  was  the 
same  Nazarene  who,  in  His  own  prayer,  teaches  His 
disciples,  “ Lead  us  not  into  temptation who,  in  His  agony 
in  the  gai’den,  begged  His  disciples  to  watch  and  pray 
against  temptation ; was  the  same  Jesus  who  sternly  told 
His  disciples  that  it  was  better  for  a man  to  pluck  out  his 
eye  or  cut  off  his  hand  rather  than  that  his  whole  body  should 
be  cast  into  hell;  was  the  same  who  said,  “ TFoe  unto  the 
world  because  of  offences,  for  it  must  needs  be  that  offences 
come,  but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  offence  cometh.” 

Would  He  who  spake  these  things  desire  the  use  of 
intoxicating  drink  in  sacramental  commemoration  of  Him  P 

A writer  in  the  Church  Quarterly  Review  early  last 
* See  chapter  xi.,  pp.  301,  302. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE? 


425 


year  asserts  that  the  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  the  sacrament 
will  protect  the  believer  from  harm.  What  authority  is 
there  for  such  an  assertion  ? Has  any  promise  been  given 
anywhere  in  the  Bible  to  that  effect  ? (And  what  imputa- 
tion on  the  character  of  this  sacred  rite  lies  in  the  mere 
suggestion  that  special  divine  intervention  is  essential  to 
the  safety  of  one  participating  in  it ! ) Certainly,  the  saddest 
facts  of  almost  daily  experience  disprove  such  assertions. 

To  the  reformed  drunkard,  alcohol  is  like  the  taste  of 
blood  to  the  tamed  lion  or  tiger.  What  shall  be  done  for 
those  innumerable  ones,  who,  knowing  their  inherited 
predisposition  to  drink,  can  keep  away  from  the  public- 
house  only  so  long  as  they  do  not  approach  the  communion 
table  ? 

As  long  ago  as  1826,  the  Rev.  Moses  Stewart  (Prof,  of 
Theology  in  Andover  College,  Mass.,  U.S.A.),  in  his  Wines 
and  Strong  Drinks  of  the  Ancient  Hebrews,  arrived  at  the 
conclusion  that  “ it  is  a matter  of  expediency  and  duty  for 
our  churches  not  to  admit  members  in  the  future  except 
on  the  ground  of  total  abstinence  from  the  use  of  intoxi- 
cating liquors  and  from  all  traffic  in  them.” 

The  Rev.  B.  Parsons,  in  his  Anti-Bacchus  (London, 
1840),  says,  “We  ought  to  substitute  an  innocent  beverage 
for  the  poison  which  is  now  used  at  the  Lord’s  table.  . . . 
Rot  long  ago  a reformed  drunkard,  and  apparently  a con- 
verted man,  approached  the  Lord’s  table  of  a church  which 
I could  name ; mark  the  result.  The  wine  tasted  at  the 
sacred  Communion  revived  the  old  passion,  and  he,  who 
seemed  a saint,  was  corrupted  by  the  sacramental  wine, 
went  home,  got  drunk,  and  died  a drunkard.” 

Mr.  E.  C.  Delavan,  in  his  Temperance  Essays  (New 
York,  1866),  in  Better  11,  Relative  to  Communion  Wine, 
written  in  1841,  says,  “ Let  us  illustrate  the  sacrament  of 
the  Supper  by  the  water  used  in  baptism.  What  Christian 
parent  would  be  willing  to  have  such  substances  as  com- 
pose the  liquor  generally  used  at  the  Supper  mingled  with 
the  water  with  which  his  infant  child  is  baptized  ? Pure 
water  is  the  only  proper  symbol  of  baptism.  The  pure 
blood  of  the  grape,  for  the  Supper.” 

In  the  Concordance  of  Scripture  and  Science  (London, 
1847),  Mr.  Peter  Burne,  in  speaking  of  the  use  of  in- 
toxicants at  the  Communion,  quotes  the  following  remarks 


The  Rev. 
Moses 
Stewart  on 
total  absti- 
nence as  a 
qualification 
for  Church 
membership. 


The  Rev.  B. 
Parsons  on 
the  constant 
risks  in- 
curred by 
attendance  at 
the  Lord's 
table. 


Mr.  E.  C. 
Delavan  on 
the  use  of 
wine  in  the 
Communion. 


Archdeacon 
Jeffreys,  of 
Bombay, 
on  the  same. 


426 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


made  by  Archdeacon  Jeffreys,  of  Bombay  : — “We  agree  to 
abstain  from  all  intoxicating  drinks,  except  in  a religious 
ordinance,  tbe  plain  interpretation  of  wbicb  is,  that  such 
mischievous  liquors  are  too  bad  to  be  used  anywhere  but 
at  the  Lord’s  Supper.  ...  So  long  as  intoxicating  wine  is 
dealt  round  at  the  communion  table,  the  reclaimed 
drunkard  (as  well  as  anybody  in  danger  of  becoming  one 
— who  is  sure?)  has  of  right  no  business  there,  for  the 
sacred  place  is  as  morally  unfit  for  him  as  the  taproom 
and  the  gin  palace  . . . It  is  a mockery  of  God  to  pray  for 
deliverance  from  evil  and  temptation  while  abandoning 
oneself  to  it  with  open  eyes.” 

The  Lord  The  Lord  Bishop  of  Exeter,  who,  in  the  Upper  House 

Exeter  on  of  Convocations,  seconded  the  above-quoted  decision  as  to 
the  same.  the  use  0f  wine  in  the  Holy  Eucharist,  in  an  address  at  the 
Guildhall  (October  17,  1883),  said,  “The  temptations  of 
the  flesh  are  generally  very  strong,  if  they  are  near,  and 
when  such  temptations  were  near  to  some  men,  their 
strength  seemed  to  desert  them  altogether.  The  only 
thing  they  could  do  was  to  get  away  and  keep  away  from 
such  temptations  altogether.  Drunkards  who  had  fallen 
under  this  particular  temptation  of  the  flesh  must  be,  if 
they  were  to  recover  themselves  at  all,  total  abstainers.” 

Does  this  mean  that  the  very  ones  who  stand  in 
greatest  need  of  the  consolation  and  help  of  the  most 
sacred  religious  rites  shall  be  shut  out  of  it?  Or  does  it 
mean  that  the  form  of  the  rite  must  be  modified,  to  meet 
the  need  of  those  for  whom  it  was  first  instituted  ?# 

Canon  Canon  Wilberforce  answers  these  questions.  Replying 

Wilberforce 

on  the  same.  * Rev.  James  Smith,  in  his  work  on  The  Temperance  Reformation 
and  its  claims  upon  the  Christian  Church  (London,  1S75),  proposes  : — 

“ The  general  adoption  of  the  pnre  juice  of  the  grape,”  and  thinks 
that  it  would  be  well  “ if  the  churches  could  agree  to  adopt  it  both 
as  appropriate  in  itself  and  as  a protest  against  the  intemperance 
that  prevails.” 

If  the  use  of  unfermented  grape  juice,  even  as  an  ordinary 
beverage,  could  gradually  replace  the  use  of  fermented  liquors,  it 
would  possibly,  more  than  any  other  purely  physical  agent  except 
water,  counteract  and  overcome  the  vitiated  taste  created  by  our  long 
use  of  alcoholic  drinks. 

There  is,  as  far  as  I know,  but  one  establishment  in  England 
where  genuine  unfermented  w'ine  is  to  be  procured,  and  that  is  at 
Frank  Wright? s manufactory  in  South  Kensington.  It  is  claimed  that 
some  two  thousand  churches  now  use  it. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE? 


427 


to  the  Rev.  C.  R.  Chase,  he  remarked  “ that  he  had 
known  terribly  real  and  undoubted  instances  in  which 
men,  by  partaking  of  wine  from  the  sacramental  cup,  had 
been  started  on  their  downward  course  to  a dishonoured 
grave.  If  it  came  to  be'  a question  whether  the  wine  or 
the  Christian  should  be  banished  from  the  table  of  the 
Lord,  he  could  not  hesitate  a moment  as  to  which  should 
go.  From  the  sacramental  table  over  which  he  had  more 
immediate  control  intoxicating  wine  had  now  long  been 
banished,  and  in  this  he  believed  they  were  carrying  out 
the  true  spirit  and  meaning  of  the  sacrament.  If  it  was 
not  a spiritual  communion  with  the  blessed  Lord,  beyond 
and  above  anything  the  mere  elements  could  convey,  then 
it  failed  in  the  great  purpose  for  which  it  was  ordained.”  * 

Will  any  one  say  that  it  is  by  Christ’s  command  that 
the  Communion  is  used  as  the  bulwark  and  the  recruiting 
oSice  of  the  public-house  P “ If  good  people  can  take 
intoxicating  drink  at  the  communion  table  on  Sunday,” 
says  the  liquor  seller,  and  all  those  who  want  a good 
excuse  for  drinking,  “ there  can  be  no  great  harm  in  a 
glass  at  home,  or  even  at  the  public-house.” 

Surely  this  consideration  alone  ought  to  suffice  to 
banish  alcoholic  cb'ink  from  the  sacrament. 

Ho  doubt  many  clergymen  and  many  Christians  shrink 
with  sincere  piety  from  making  any  change  in  the  sacra- 
mental rite,  regarding  it  to  have  been  taught  and  founded, 
as  now  observed,  by  the  Master  Himself ; but  will  not  all 
personal  shrinking,  all  minor  scruples  give  way  to  the 
larger  and  holier  shrinking  which  must  accompany  our 
knowledge,  that  alcohol  is  now  proved  to  be  a poison 
which  ruins  body  and  soul  ? It  cannot  be  inappropiate  to 
say  “ minor  scruples,”  since  we  are  authoritatively  assured 
that  the  Church  “ has  never  prescribed  the  strength  or 
weakness  of  the  wine  to  be  used.” 

If  the  Church  does  insist  upon  the  custom  of  using 
alcoholic  drink  in  the  Communion,  many,  if  not  all, 
conscientious  persons  may  be  driven  to  abstain  from  the 
Lord’s  Supper,  if  not  on  their  own  account,  lest  offence 
come  through  them  to  others. 

Is  it  not  better  that  “ancient  and  unbroken  usage  ” in 
this  respect  should  be  deviated  from,  in  order  that  the 
* League  Journal,  November,  3,  1883. 


Various  im- 
portant con- 
siderations 
involved  in 
this  ques- 
tion. 


428 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


ancient  and  unbroken  usage  of  sin  maybe  overcome,  in  the 
rite  that  remembers  Him  ? 


Dr.  Chan- 
ning  on 
drink 
customs. 


The  origin 
and  age  of 
the  drink 
customs. 


Strutt  on  the 
same. 


§ 96.  The  principal  part  for  society  to  take  in  the 
battle  against  drink  is  the  abolition  of  the  drink  customs. 

“ In  proportion  as  ardent  spirits  are  banished  from  our 
houses,  our  tables,  our  hospitalities,”  said  Dr.  Channing 
(op.  cit.),  “ in  the  proportion  that  those  who  have  influence 
and  authority  in  the  community  abstain  themselves  and 
lead  their  dependents  to  abstain  from  their  use,  the  tempta- 
tions to  drink  must  disappear.  It  is  objected,  I know, 
that  if  we  give  up  what  others  will  abuse,  we  must  give 
up  everything,  because  there  is  nothing  which  men  will 
not  abuse.  I grant  that  it  is  not  easy  to  define  the  limits 
at  which  concessions  ought  to  stop.  Were  we  called  upon 
to  relinquish  an  important  comfort  of  life  because  others 
were  perverting  it  into  an  instrument  of  crime  and  woe, 
we  should  be  bound  to  pause  and  deliberate  before  we 
acted. 

“ But  no  such  plea  can  be  set  up  in  the  case  before  us. 
Ardent  spirits  are  not  an  important  comfort  and  in  no 
degree  a necessity.  They  give  no  strength,  they  contribute 
nothing  to  help.  They  neither  aid  men  to  bear  the  burden 
nor  discharge  the  duties  of  life.” 

The  drink  customs  are  very  difficult  to  eradicate.  They 
have  grown  through  the  ages  and  become  ingrained  with 
the  growth  of  national  and  social  life  and  institutions,  and 
in  no  country  have  they  struck  root  so  deeply  as  in  England. 

History  relates  that  the  Danish  conquerors  punished 
with  death  any  native  who  drank  in  their  presence  with- 
out permission.  Some  writers  claim  that  the  custom  of 
pledging  health  originated  at  that  time.  Strutt,  in  his 
Manners  and  Customs  of  Ancient  Britain,  says — 

“ The  meaning  of  a pledge  was  a security  for  the  safety 
of  the  individual  drinking,  who  all  the  time  was  exposed 
to  the  attack  of  an  enemy  by  his  arm  being  raised  to  his 
head,  his  face  partly  covered,  and  his  body  unprotected. 
When,  therefore,  a person  was  about  to  drink,  he  asked 
the  guest  next  to  him  if  he  would  pledge  him,  and  being 
answered  in  the  affirmative,  the  sword  or  dagger  was  raised 
to  protect  him  while  drinking.” 

And  this  custom,  sign  of  England’s  degradation  under 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


429 


the  heel  of  her  conqueror,  not  only  was  not  dropped  with 
the  slavery  that  imposed  it,  hut  outlived  it,  and  by  some 
mysterious  process  got  transposed  into  such  a sign  of 
glorification  at  both  official  and  private  banquets,  that  to 
omit  it  lias  until  very  recently  been  considered  almost 
tantamount  to  treason  to  the  throne  and  the  altar  of 
personal  friendship  ! 

There  are  many  drink  customs.  At  the  Temperance 
Congress  of  1862,  a paper  was  issued  enumerating  four 
hundred  drink  laws  and  usages ; * but  the  principal  and 
universally  observed  drink  custom  is  that  of  drinking  to 
the  health  and  success  of  persons  and  undertakings. 

In  chapter  xi.  it  was  shown  how  drinking  originated 
at  Court,  and  afterwards  became  the  vice  of  the  masses ; 
and  how  much  might  be  hoped  from  the  initiative  of  the 
Court  in  temperance  reform. 

It  would  seem  as  if  this  responsibility  was  becoming  felt 
at  Court.  In  his  address  to  the  York  Licensed  Victuallers’ 
Association,  February  8,  1881,  the  Lord  Mayor  of  York 
said  he  had  accepted  the  invitation  of  the  association  with 
much  pleasure,  especially  w'hen  they  had  been  so  courteous 
as  to  give  him  the  liberty  to  refresh  himself  with  whatever 
beverage  he  thought  proper.  It  reminded  him  of  an 
occasion  when  some  one  dining  at  her  Majesty’s  table  was 
drinking  water,  and  it  was  pointed  out  to  her  Majesty, 
who  replied,  “ There  is  no  compulsion  at  my  table.” 

At  the  great  Scottish  Temperance  Convention  held  in 
Glasgow  on  the  28th  of  April,  1884,  Mr.  Robert  Rae,  the 
secretary  of  the  Rational  Temperance  League,  said — 

“ It  often  happens  that  the  Queen  dines  many  people, 
and  I am  glad  to  state  that  a good  number  of  the  guests 
are  teetotalers.  Especially  is  this  the  case  amongst  her 
chaplains  ; and  to  show  that  the  temperance  movement  is 
spreading  in  the  Queen’s  establishment,  I may  say  that 

* A great  number  of  these  are  mentioned  with  the  special 
penalties  to  be  inflicted  on  those  who  break  them.  As  recently  as 
last  June  (1883)  the  papers  furnish  an  account  of  how  a labourer 
named  Ellis,  an  abstainer,  was  maltreated  because  he  refused  to  stand 
treat.  “ A pair  of  clamps — pieces  of  wood  fastened  by  a screw  in  the 
middle — were  jrlaced  on  his  neck,  and  he  was  held  till  signs  of 
suffocation  were  apparent.  He  was  then  released,  but  he  was  in  such 
a condition  that  he  had  to  be  taken  to  the  infirmary,  where  he 
remains.” 


The  Queen’s 
opposition  to 
the  social 
bondage  of 
the  drink 
customs;  her 
insight  into 
the  national 
dangers  from 
drink,  and 
sympathy 
with  temper- 
ance reform. 


430 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


the  last  two  house  chaplains  who  were  appointed  were 
total  abstainers.  It  is  a significant  fact  that  nearly  all 
the  new  bishops  recently  created  in  the  Church  of 
England  have  been  total  abstainers.” 

In  her  hook,  My  Holidays  in  the  Highlands , 1862—1882 
(London,  1884),  the  Queen  identifies  herself  in  a very 
simple  and  effective  manner  with  the  cause  of  temperance 
reform.  In  referring  to  the  work  of  her  “ dear  and  valued 
friend,”  the  late  Dr.  Norman  Macleod,  she  mentions  with 
especial  interest  his  sermon  on  the  2nd  of  October,  1870, 
in  these  words  : — 

“ Dr.  Macleod  gave  us  such  a splendid  sermon  on  the 
war,  and  without  mentioning  France  he  said  enough  to 
make  every  one  understand  what  was  meant,  when  he 
pointed  out  how  God  would  punish  wickedness,  and 
vanity,  and  sensuality ; and  the  chapters  he  read  from 
Isaiah  xxviii.,#  and  from  Ezekiel,  Amos,  and  one  of  the 
Psalms,  were  really  quite  wonderful  for  the  way  in  which 
they  seemed  to  describe  France.” 

Such  expressions  are  a touching  revelation  of  her 
Majesty’s  anxiety  concerning  the  condition  of  things  in 
her  own  realm,  which  has  been  practically  evinced  also  by 
her  becoming  patron  of  the  Church  of  England  Temper- 
ance Society. 

* “ 1.  Woe  to  the  crown  of  pride,  to  the  drunkards  of  Ephraim, 
whose  glorious  beauty  is  a fading  flower,  which  are  on  the  head  of 
the  fat  valleys  of  them  that  are  overcome  with  wine. 

“ 2.  Behold,  the  Lord  hath  a mighty  and  strong  one,  which  as  a 
tempest  of  hail  and  a destroying  storm,  as  a food  of  mighty  waters 
overflowing,  shall  cast  down  to  the  earth  with  the  hand. 

“ 3.  The  crown  of  pride,  the  drunkards  of  Ephraim,  shall  be 
trodden  under  feet. 

“ 7.  But  they  also  have  erred  through  wine,  and  through  strong 
drink  are  out  of  the  way ; the  priest  and  the  prophet  have  erred 
through  strong  drink,  they  are  swallowed  up  of  wine,  they  are  out  of 
the  way  through  strong  drink ; they  err  in  vision,  they  stumble 
through  judgment. 

“ 15.  Because  ye  have  said,  We  have  made  a covenant  with  death, 
and  with  hell  are  we  at  agreement;  when  the  overflowing  scourge 
shall  pass  through,  it  shall  not  come  unto  us  : for  we  have  made  lies 
our  refuge,  and  under  falsehood  have  we  hid  ourselves. 

“ 16.  Therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  . . . 

“ 17-  Judgment  also  will  I lay  to  the  line,  and  righteousness  to 
the  plummet : and  the  hail  shall  sweep  away  the  refuge  of  lies,  and 
the  waters  shall  overflow  the  hiding-place.” — Isaiah  xxviii. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


431 


Tims  it  is  seen  that  drink  customs  are  no  longer 
a matter  of  rigorous  observance  at  coui’t.  The  Queen  her- 
self has  clone  the  temperance  cause  the  inestimable  service 
of  removing  from  the  relations  between  host  and  guests, 
from  social  etiquette  and  good  manners,  the  burden  of  an 
irksome  obligation,  in  the  exchange  of  social  amenities  ; 
and  society  is  no  longer  shielded  under  the  pretence  of 
loyalty  nor  by  the  code  of  good  breeding,  in  using  her 
formidable  weapons  of  ridicule  and  satire  against  those 
who  seek,  by  appropriate  means,  to  liberate  themselves  and 
others  from  the  evils  of  drink. 

From  a paper  on  Freemasonry  and  Temperance  in  the 
Western  Morning  Neivs,  the  Good  Templar  s Watchword 
(January  28,  1884)  quotes  the  following,  showing  the 
interest  felt  by  the  Prince  of  Wales  in  temperance  reform: — 

“ Lodges  can  choose  as  to  when  and  where  members 
shall  take  refreshments,  and  as  to  what  shall  be  included 
or  excluded  in  connection  with  those  refreshments. 
Acting  upon  that  privilege,  a movement  is  progressing 
in  the  order  for  lodge  to  decree  that  no  intoxicating 
liquors  shall  at  any  time  be  permitted  to  be  introduced  at 
their  refreshment  boards;  and,  in  some  instances,  new 
lodges  are  being  formed  with  a clause  in  their  bye-laws  to 
this  effect.  Such  an  one,  on  a large  scale,  was  opened  at 
Manchester  in  the  beginning  of  last  year,  and  now  the 
three  towns  are  about  to  follow  the  same  course.  A 
suggestion  was  made  a few  months  since  among  a few  of 
the  temperance  brethren  that  it  would  he  worth  while  to 
ascertain  if  such  a lodge  could  not  be  established  there, 
and  on  the  question  being  put  to  the  test,  they  were 
astonished  at  the  popularity  of  the  movement.  With 
scarce  an  effort  over  sixty  masons,  nearly  all  of  several 
years’  standing,  and  embracing  numerous  P.M.’s  and 
provincial  officers,  came  forward  at  once  as  being  desirous 
to  become  members  of  the  new  lodge.  The  proposition 
was  then  submitted  to  the  heads  of  the  order  in  the  three 
towns,  when  the  whole  of  them,  with,  it  is  believed,  only 
one  exception,  signed  a recommendation  that  a warrant 
for  the  new  lodge  should  be  granted.  The  Provincial 
Grand  Master  added  his  recommendation,  and  now  the 
information  has  been  received  that  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
M.W.  Grand  Master,  has  been  pleased  to  grant  a warrant 


The  interest 
manifested 
by  the  Prince 
of  Wales  in 
temperance 
reform. 


432 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  interest 
shown  by 
the  late  Duke 
of  Albany  in 
the  condition 
of  the  poor 
and  in 
temperance 
reform. 


The  practi- 


for  the  holding  of  the  said  lodge  under  title  of  ‘ The  St. 
George,  No.  2025.’  The  membership  is  not  confined  to 
pledged  teetotalers,  nor  will  any  attempt  he  made  to  so 
limit  it.  At  all  its  banquets  and  entertainments  everv 
endeavour  will  be  made  to  make  the  social  gatherings 
enjoyable,  but  without  the  aid  of  alcohol.  The  three 
principal  officers  named  in  the  warrant  will  be  provincial 
officers,  who  are  total  abstainers — the  W.M.  for  twenty- 
eight  years,  the  S.TVi  for  eighteen  years,  and  the  J.W.  a 
life-long  abstainer.  There  were  nearly  fifty  petitioners  for 
the  new  lodge,  and  many  of  the  brethren  are  active  ‘ blue 
ribbonists  ’ and  total  abstainers.” 

At  the  distribution  of  prizes  to  the  children  of  ele- 
mentary schools  by  the  Liverpool  Council  of  Education 
(January  26, 1884),  the  late  Duke  of  Albany*  presiding,  in 
speaking  of  improved  cookery  and  coffee  taverns,  said — 

“ I should  like  to  see  a rapid  lift  given  to  the  standard 
of  cleanliness  and  care  in  the  preparation  of  food  in  the 
poorest  homes.  T should  like  to  see  meals  which  are  now 
mere  scrambles  become  points  of  real  family  union — 
occasions  for  showing  forethought  and  kindliness  and  self- 
respect.  And  where  circumstances  make  this  too  difficult, 
I should  like  to  see  the  family  enjoying  a cheap  and  decent 
meal  together  at  the  coffee  tavern,  instead  of  the  father 
being  at  the  alehouse  and  the  wife  and  children  with  a 
crust  at  home.  And  I think  that  if  we  can  train  the 
children  early  to  see  the  difference  between  what  dirt  and 
waste  and  selfishness  make  of  a poor  man’s  dinner,  and 
what  thrift  and  care  and  cleanliness  can  make  of  it  at  the 
same  cost,  we  shall  be  civilizing  them  almost  more  directly 
than  by  our  sums  or  our  grammar,  and  shall  be  taking  in 
flank  our  great  enemy,  drink — drink,  the  only  terrible 
enemy  whom  England  has  to  fear.”  f 

Public  bodies  also  are  beginning  to  manifest  a sense  of 
responsibility  in  this  direction. 

At  the  annual  dinner  of  the  Metropolitan  Board  of 

* The  late  Duke  of  Albany  was  for  nine  years  patron  of  the 
Oxford  Diocesan  Branch  and  a president  of  the  Church  of  England 
Temperance  Society. — Annual  Report  Church  of  England  Temperance 
Society,  18S4. 

t The  Dnke  of  Connaught  ascribes  his  good  health  during  the 
Egyptian  campaign  to  his  abstention  from  the  use  of  intoxicating 
liquor. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


433 


Works,  April,  1883,  the  imperative  toasts  of  loyalty,  etc., 
were  drunk  in  water. 

At  the  inauguration  of  the  Society  for  the  Study 
and  Cure  of  Inebriety  (Rooms  of  the  Medical  Society 
of  London,  April  25,  1884),  at  which  about  one  hundred 
physicians  were  present,  the  toasts  were  drunk  in  un- 
fermented wines. 

In  this  struggle  against  the  public  drink  customs,  the 
remembrance  of  their  inherent  absurdities  ought  to  weigh 
greatly  with  intelligent  people. 

“ It  is  not  usual,”  says  the  German  Prince  Puckler 
(according  to  Dr.  Grindrod,  op.  cit.),  “ to  take  wine  during 
dinner  in  England  without  drinking  to  another  person. 
When  you  raise  your  glass,  you  look  fixedly  at  the  one 
with  whom  you  are  drinking,  bow  your  head,  and  then 
drink  with  great  gravity.  Certainly  many  customs  of  the 
South  Sea  Islanders,  which  strike  us  the  most,  are  less 
ludicrous.  It  is  esteemed  a civility  to  challenge  anybody 
in  this  way  to  drink  ; a messenger  is  often  sent  from  one 
end  of  the  table  to  the  other  to  announce  to  B that  A 
wishes  to  take  wine  with  him,  whereupon  each,  and  some- 
times with  considerable  trouble,  catches  the  other’s  eye, 
and  goes  through  the  ceremony  of  the  prescribed  nod  with 
great  formality,  looking  at  the  moment  very  like  a Chinese 
mandarin.” 

“ Never  perhaps,”  says  the  Rev.  B.  Parsons  (op.  cit.), 
“ was  there  a more  irrational  or  absui’d  practice.  As 
though  we  could  not  express  our  loyalty  to  the  Queen,  our 
good  wishes  to  the  bishops,  clergy,  and  Church,  or  our 
affection  to  our  friends  and  country,  without  swallowing 
a poi'tion  of  poison ! In  thousands  of  instances,  love  of 
drink,  not  love  to  the  monarch,  is  the  origin  of  the  toast, 
and  those  who  are  most  noisy  with  their  ‘ three  times 
three  ’ are  swallowing  their  money,  their  morality,  their 
loyalty  and  patriotism  all  at  the  same  time.  Some  of 
these  would  curse  God  and  the  king  for  a pot  of  beer,  and 
others  ruined  by  drinking  and  toasting  are  ready  for  any- 
thing that  would  mend  their  affairs  and  get  them  some 
drink.  The  most  disloyal  and  disaffected  of  our  country- 
men are  those  who  have  beggared  themselves  by  drinking. 
It  is  impossible  to  tell  the  crime  and  misery  which  drink- 
ing of  toasts  has  originated.  Louis  XIY.  of  Prance  is  said 

2 F 


cal  inaugu- 
ration of 
drinking 
toasts  in 
water  by  the 
Metropolitan 
Board  of 
Works, 
April,  1883. 
Toasts 
drunk  in 
unfermented 
wines  at  the 
inauguration 
luncheon  of 
the  Society 
for  the  Study 
and  Cure  ot 
Inebriety, 
April  25, 
1884. 

The  German 
Prince 
Puckler  on 
the  absurdi- 
ties of  the 
drink 
customs. 


The  Rev.  B. 
Parsons  on 
the  same. 


431 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


A working 
man  on  the 
same. 


The  Rev. 
James  Smith 
on  the  same. 


to  have  foreseen  the  consequences,  and  to  have  prohibited 
the  drinking  of  toasts.” 

In  1864,  A Working  Man  published  a trenchant  little 
pamphlet  entitled  Philosophy  of  Toasts  and  Health  Prinking, 
from  which  I quote  the  following : — • 

“ The  toast  is  applied  to  the  health  of  the  living,  and 
to  the  memory  of  the  dead ; to  things  far  and  near,  past, 
present,  and  to  come ; through  every  department  in  all 
the  affairs  of  life,  and  prevails  among  all  classes  of  society, 
from  the  peer  who  toasts  the  Queen’s  health  to  the  beggar 
who  drinks  the  publican’s  health  with  his  last  penny.  . . . 
The  simple  ‘ Luck  ! ’ of  the  poor  gives  way  to  the  toast  in 
society.  A gentleman  stands  on  his  feet  and  expatiates  in 
glowing  terms,  it  may  be  on  the  virtues  of  the  Queen,  or 
some  other  great  one  present  or  absent,  living  or  dead, 
and,  whatever  the  toast  may  be,  the  speaker  is  sure  to 
conclude  his  speech  by  requiring  the  company  to  empty 
their  glasses  for  the  success,  health,  or  happiness  of  the 
subject  of  the  toast.  If  there  existed  any  connection 
between  the  real  and  the  possible,  between  that  which  the 
company  desires  to  honour  or  promote,  so  that  the  one 
could  be  regarded  as  the  cause  and  the  other  as  the  effect, 
or  the  one  the  means  and  the  other  the  end,  then  there 
might  be  some  show  in  reason  for  the  practice,  and  so  far 
a palliation  of  the  evils  resulting  from  excess.  . . . But 
where  is  the  connection  between  health  and  prosperity 
and  the  act  of  drinking  strong  liquor  or  wine  ? Suppose 
a doctor  took  it  into  his  head  some  fine  morning,  that 
instead  of  going  out  to  visit  his  patients  as  usual,  he  would 
swallow  pills  to  their  health  in  the  laboratory,  and  that 
he  did  so.  He  swallowed  a pill  to  the  health  of  each  in 
succession,  according  to  the  order  of  his  visits.  ‘ Well, 
here  goes  a pill  for  the  health  of  the  man  with  the  broken 
arm,’  etc.  Twenty-two  pills  in  all  ! What  would  be  the 
state  of  the  doctor  P what  that  of  the  patients  P and  what 
would  be  said  of  his  actions  ? ” 

Let  us  substitute  for  toasting  with  wine  some  kind  of 
spice,  salt  or  pepper,  and  the  absurdity  of  toasting  becomes 
as  absurd  in  appearance  as  it  is  in  fact. 

“ The  habit  of  toast-drinking,  whether  public  or 
private,”  says  the  Rev.  James  Smith,*  “ is  one  which  only 

* Temperance  Reformation  and  its  claims  upon  the  Christian 
Church  (London,  1875). 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


435 


long-established  usage  and  familiarity  enable  us  to  regard 
as  otherwise  than  highly  ridiculous,  and  in  every  way  un- 
worthy of  au  enlightened  and  civilized  community.  Does 
anybody  really  imagine  that  the  Queen  enjoys  better 
health,  that  the  army  and  navy  are  in  a more  flourishing 
condition,  that  the  Church,  the  Press,  or  the  Government 
do  their  work  more  efficiently  because  they  are  so  frequently 
and  enthusiastically  ‘ toasted  ’ ? Is  there  any  rational 
connection  between  the  good  wishes  entertained  and  the 
mode  in  which  they  receive  expression  ? If  any  one  really 
supposed  that  the  person  or  subject  in  hand  would  prosper 
all  the  better  in  proportion  to  the  frequency  and  enthusiasm 
of  the  toasting  and  the  quantity  of  liquor  consumed  in  the 
process,  there  would  be  some  excuse  for  his  indulging  in 
the  practice,  whatever  might  be  thought  of  his  intellectual 
development  ! There  was  more  reason,  if  less  civilization, 
in  the  action  of  the  African  mentioned  by  Dr.  Livingstone, 
who  emptied  his  snuff-box  at  the  foot  of  a tree,  in  order  to 
ensure  the  success  of  his  comrades,  who  were  engaged  in 
an  elephant  hunt  ! He,  poor  savage  ! performed  this 
ceremony  ignorantly  and  superstitiously,  believing  that  it 
would  have  some  real  efficacy ; while  we,  enlightened 
Christians ! perform  an  analogous  heathenish  ceremony, 
knowing  it  to  be  meaningless  and  vain.  If  health-drinking 
were  confined  to  the  health-giving  beverage,  water,  the 
folly  of  the  custom  would  speedily  become  apparent  to 
all,  and  the  practice  would  soon  be  numbered  among  the 
antiquarian  relics  of  a barbarous  age.” 

There  are  many  trade  usages  still  extensively  prevalent, 
which  tend  to  create  and  foster  a love  for  strong  drink, 
and  are,  consequently,  instrumental  in  promoting  intemper- 
ance among  those  concerned.  Among  such  customs  may 
be  mentioned  the  'payment  of  wages  at  public-houses,  whereby 
many  are  brought  into  temptation,  the  young  and  in- 
experienced become  the  prey  of  confirmed  inebriates,  and 
those  who  may  be  desirous  to  reform  have  difficulties 
thrown  in  the  way  of  their  doing  so. 

Thanks  to  the  efforts  of  the  Hon.  Samuel  Morley,  M.P.,  Success  of 
in  the  Commons,  and  of  the  Earls  Stanhope  and  Shaftes-  gamuei"’ 
bury  in  the  Lords,  this  mischievous  practice  was  abolished  Morley, m.p., 

,1  • e ~i  ooo  and  of  Earls 

m the  spring  session  Ot  lSSd.  Shaftesbury 

Besides  the  drinking  customs  and  usages,  there  are  the  an<i stanhope 


436 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


in  securing 
the  abolition 
of  the  cus- 
tom of  the 
payment  of 
wages  at 
public- 
houses. 

The  Rev. 
William 
Moister 
on  the 
variety  and 
prevalence 
of  social 
drinking 
habits. 


social  drinking  habits  to  combat.  The  Rev.  William 
Moister,  in  his  hook,  The  Evil  and  the  Remedy  (London, 
1877),  well  describes  their  variety  and  prevalence  in  the 
following  words  : — 

“ Intoxicating  drink,  in  some  form  or  other,  has  at 
length  come  to  be  used  on  a variety  of  occasions,  the  very 
mention  of  which  is  somewhat  startling,  when  we  consider 
its  character  and  tendency.  It  is  frequently  given  to 
working  men  and  others  by  employers  of  labour,  to  stimulate 
them  to  greater  exertion  in  the  discharge  of  their  respective 
duties.  It  is  introduced  at  almost  all  public  and  festive 
gatherings ; at  marriages,  baptisms,  and  funerals  ; at  sales, 
contracts,  and  friendly  meetings ; and,  in  many  otherwise 
well-regulated  families,  spirits,  wine,  ale,  or  porter,  are 
placed  on  the  table  every  day  as  common  beverage  at  meal- 
times as  well  as  on  other  occasions.  In  many  localities 
the  hospitality  of  the  host  is  measured  by  the  frequency 
and  earnestness  with  which  he  presses  the  intoxicating 
cup  on  the  attention  of  his  guests.  As  soon  as  you  arrive 
at  the  dwelling  of  your  friend,  the  all-important  question 
is  put,  “ What  will  you  take  to  drink  P ” If  you  are  weary 
with  your  journey,  you  are  urged  to  take  a glass  of  wine, 
beer,  or  other  stimulating  drink  to  refresh  you  ; if  you  are 
cold,  it  is  recommended  to  warm  you  ; and  if  you  are  warm, 
it  is  represented  as  a cooling  beverage.  By  some  it  is 
taken  before  dinner  to  create  an  appetite : at  meals  as  a 
dilutant  of  food ; afterwards  to  aid  digestion ; and  imme- 
diately before  going  to  bed  to  induce  sleep. 

“ In  fact,  alcoholic  liquor,  in  some  form,  has  come  to  be 
regarded  by  many  as  a common  necessary  of  life ; and  as 
such  it  is  procured  and  kept  in  store  for  ordinary  use,  the 
same  as  bread,  butter,  meat,  and  other  provisions.  If  a 
journey  has  to  be  taken,  as  a matter  of  course,  the  familiar 
bottle  is  replenished  with  the  favourite  liquid  and  placed 
in  the  basket  or  pocket  with  other  refreshments.  You 
cannot  travel  far  by  rail  or  otherwise,  without  being  pain- 
fully reminded  of  the  degeneracy  of  our  race,  and  of  the 
fearful  extent  to  which  the  drinking  customs  of  our 
country  prevail  among  all  classes.” 

It  is,  of  course,  necessary,  in  order  to  make  headway 
against  these  most  widely  obseiwed  and  popular  drink 
customs  and  habits,  to  inspire  a healthy  public  sentiment, 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


437 


in  which  their  continuance  shall  be  clearly  seen  to  be  both 
ridiculous  and  wrong. 

In  his  paper  on  The  Wine  Question  of  Society  (Scribner' s Dr.  j.  a. 
Monthly , August,  1872),  the  late  Dr.  J.  G.  Holland  pi’o-  njfdutyof 
posed  a method  for  arousing  such  healthy  public  sentiment  society  in 
in  these  words:  “Society  bids  us  furnish  wines  at  our  thlslespect 
feasts,  and  we  furnish  them  just  as  generously  as  if  we  did 
not  know  that  a certain  percentage  of  all  the  men  who 
drink  it  will  die  miserable  drunkards,  and  will  inflict 
pitiful  sufferings  on  those  who  are  closely  associated  with 
them.  . . . What  we  need  is  a declaration  of  independence. 

There  are  a great  many  good  men  and  women  who  lament 
the  drinking  habits  of  society  most  sincerely.  Let  these 
all  declare  that  they  will  minister  no  longer  at  the  altar 
of  the  great  destroyer.  Let  them  declare  that  the  indis- 
criminate offer  of  wine  at  dinners  and  social  assemblies  is 
not  only  criminal  but  vulgar,  as  it  undoubtedly  is.  Let 
them  declare,  for  the  sake  of  the  young,  the  weak,  and 
vicious — for  the  sake  of  personal  character,  and  family 
peace,  and  social  purity,  and  national  strength,  that  they 
will  discard  wine  from  their  feasts  from  this  time  forth 
and  for  ever,  and  the  work  wTill  be  done.  . . . If  the  men 
and  women  of  good  society  wish  to  have  less  drinking  to 
excess,  let  them  stop  drinking  moderately.  If  they  are 
not  willing  to  break  off  the  indulgence  of  a feeble  appetite 
for  the  sake  or  doing  a great  good  to  a great  many  people, 
how  can  they  expect  a poor  broken-down  wretch  to  deny 
an  appetite  that  is  stronger  than  the  love  of  wife  and 
children,  and  even  life  itself  P ” 

Perhaps  no  moral  cause  ever  came  up  for  general  con- 
sideration more  requiring  the  uncompromising  action  that 
is  here  suggested  than  the  cause  of  temperance,  or  more 
in  need  of  the  conciliating  influence  of  perfect  good  breed- 
ing and  inexhaustible  patience  on  the  part  of  its  upholders, 
or  one  more  endangered  by  irritating,  unenlightened 
prejudiced  opinion,  or  having  more  to  hope  from  the  right 
exercise  of  enlightened  and  noble  public  sentiment.* 


§ 97.  In  his  Temperance  Address  at  Boston  (1846),  Dr.  Chapin 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Chapin  exclaimed — sporSbuity 

“Who  stand  between  the  temperance  movement  and  of  wealth  for 
* See  chapter  xi.  pp.  300,  301. 


438 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


the  preva- 
lence of  the 
drink  evil. 


Lord  Claud 
Hamilton’s 
statement  in 
St.  James’s 
Hall  (May 
19,  1870), 
about  a pro- 
hibition 
estate  in 
Tyrone. 


The  evidence 
of  Mr.  T.  W. 
Russell  on 
the  prohibi- 
tion estate  of 
Bessbrook. 


its  triumph  ? I answer  the  wealthy,  the  fashionable,  the 
influential.  The  rum  power  in  our  country  is  backed  up 
by  the  money  power.  Mammon  and  alcohol  go  hand  in 
hand.”  This  was  true  then.  How  much  more  true  it  is 
to-day,  and  truer  still  of  Great  Britain  than  of  the  United 
States  ? 

Indeed,  the  whole  wealth  of  England  is  in  so  com- 
paratively few  bands  that  practically  the  magnates,  by 
refusing  the  renewal  of  leases  for  public-houses  on  their 
estates,  could,  in  a very  few  years,  establish  an  almost 
complete  prohibition,  and,  therefore,  the  wealth  of  this 
country  must  be  largely  responsible  for  the  fate  of  the 
English  temperance  movement.  But  there  are  hopeful 
signs  that  this  responsibility  is  being  rightly  felt. 

At  St.  James’s  Hall  (May  19,  1870),  Lord  Claud 
Hamilton,  Ex-M.P.,  said  about  a prohibition  estate  of  some 
10,000  population  in  County  Tyrone,  Ireland,  “ the  resnlt 
has  been  that  whereas  those  high-roads  were,  in  former 
times,  constantly  the  scenes  of  strife  and  drunkenness, 
necessitating  the  presence  of  a very  considerable  number 
of  police  to  be  located  in  the  district,  at  present  there  is 
not  a single  policeman  in  the  district.  The  poor  rates  are 
half  what  they  were  before,  and  all  the  police  and  magis- 
trates testify  to  the  great  absence  of  crime.”  Mr.  Richard- 
son’s flax-mills  at  Bessbrook,  on  the  Belfast  and  Dublin 
railway,  near  Hewry,  are  well  known. 

I quote  here  at  length  from  the  report  of  the  evidence 
given  by  Mr.  T.  ~W.  Russell,  of  Dublin,  and  Mr.  J.  G. 
Richardson,  the  proprietor  of  Bessbrook,  before  the  Lords’ 
Committee  on  Intemperance  (1880),  as  given  in  the  Alliance 
News  (May  15,  1880).  Says  Mr.  Russell,  “Bessbrook 
was  got  possession  of  by  Mr.  John  Grubb  Richardson  in 
1847.  It  was  just  a hamlet  of  a few  small  houses,  and  now 
he  has  built  a very  fine  town  there ; there  is  no  such  town 
in  Ireland,  so  far  as  sanitary  arrangements  are  concerned. 
He  has  made  it  a rule  that  he  will  let  no  house  for  the  sale 
of  drink  in  any  form,  and,  as  a matter  of  fact,  there  has 
never  been  a drop  of  drink  sold  in  Bessbrook  since  Mr. 
Richardson  got  possession  of  it.  It  is  situated  in  the 
county  of  Armagh,  three  miles  from  He  wry.  He  wry  is 
a town  of  14,000  inhabitants.  Mr.  Richardson  has  a large 
mill  at  Bessbrook,  which  employs  the  whole  of  the  people. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


439 


There  has  never  been  a police-barrack,  nor  a policeman,  nor 
a pawn-office  in  Bessbrook.  I have  a letter  from  the 
inspector  of  police  at  Newry,  stating  that  there  were  only- 
three  cases  of  drunkenness  from  Bessbrook  during  the 
eighteen  months  previous  to  his  writing,  and  I am  very 
much  of  opinion  that  those  were  cases  of  farmers  going 
home  from  Xowry  and  passing  through  Bessbrook  on 
their  way ; but  there  everything  is  peace,  prosperity,  and 
comfort.  It  was  submitted  to  the  vote  by  ballot  of  the 
householders  two  years  ago  as  a test,  whether  they  would 
prefer  a public- house  being  admitted  or  not,  and  the  vote 
was  nine  to  one  against  the  introduction  of  public-houses. 
There  is  a district,  in  county  Tyrone,  covering  sixty-one 
and  a half  square  miles  ; it  adjoins  the  town  of  Dungannon, 
and  goes  near  to  Cookstown,  covering  three  great  public 
roads.  I lived  in  the  town  of  Dungannon  for  five  years, 
and  there  were  public-houses  on  that  territory  when  I first 
went  there  ; but  Mr.  John  Kinley  Tener,  who  became  the 
agent  of  the  properties  in  the  district,  refused,  I believe, 
to  renew  the  leases  of  public-houses,  and,  as  a matter  of 
fact,  the  public-houses  vanished.  There  were  police- 
barracks  in  the  centre ; they  were  closed  in  twelve  months 
afterwards,  and  the  policemen  removed.  The  poor  rates 
came  down  from  Is.  4 d.  and  Is.  6d.  in  the  pound  in  the 
different  townlands  to  5 d.,  6d.,  and  8 d.  Of  late  a spirit 
grocer  has  forced  himself  in  upon  the  borders  of  that 
district ; the  magistrates  resolutely  refused  a license  within 
the  district,  in  order  to  keep  the  district  clear ; but  a spirit 
grocer  has  planted  himself,  in  defiance  of  the  public  opinion 
of  the  place,  right  on  the  border  of  the  place,  and  I con- 
ceive that  he  will  do  damage  there.  That  I conceive  a 
very  great  hardship.  This  range  of  country  belongs  to 
three  proprietors.  The  population  were  not  consulted,  but 
I am  bound  to  say  when  Mr.  Tener  gave  up  the  agency 
some  years  ago,  they  presented  him  with  a carriage  and 
pair  of  horses,  and  an  address,  in  which  they  referred  to 
his  action  of  clearing  off  the  public-houses  as  one  of  the 
greatest  blessings  which  had  occurred  in  the  locality,  and 
hoped  that  his  successor  would  take  care  that  the  same 
rule  prevailed.  The  population  is  10,000.  Now,  I would 
venture  to  say  that  if  it  is  right  to  allow  Mr.  Richardson 
and  Mr.  Tener  to  have  the  power  to  say,  as  Mr.  Richardson 


410 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  evidence 
of  Mr.  J.  G. 
Richardson 
on  the 
6ame. 


says,  to  4000  people  in  Bessbrook,  ‘ You  shall  not  have 
a public-house  for  the  sale  of  liquor,  because  I think  it 
will  injure  your  interests  and  my  interests,’  and  to  cany 
out  that  rule, — I do  not  think  it  can  be  wrong  to  allow 
occupiers  of  property  to  say  it,  if  they  wish  to  say  it,  in 
their  localities.” 

And  this  is  Mr.  Richardson’s  testimony  : — 

“ I am  the  owner  of  some  very  extensive  linen-mills  at 
Bessbrook.  It  is  a manufacturing  town,  containing  about 
4000  people,  largely  employed  in  a factory  built  by  the 
Richardson  family,  situated  about  two  miles  from  Rewry, 
in  the  county  of  Armagh.  The  trade  principally  carried 
on  there  is  the  spinning,  weaving,  and  bleaching  of  linens  and 
linen  yarns  of  all  kinds.  About  3000  are  employed  in  the 
general  work  of  the  concern,  and  1500  outside  in  handloom 
weaving,  etc.  We  began  the  concern  in  1847,  thirty-one 
years  ago,  and  being  then  convinced  that  strong  drink 
was  the  cause  of  serious  injury,  we  resolved  that  no  house 
for  its  sale  should  be  established  in  our  colony,  and  our 
experience  has  enabled  us  to  prove  that  the  absence  of  the 
liquor  traffic  has  been  a real  blessing  to  our  population. 
The  result  has  been  that  we  have  been  able  to  do  without 
police,  have  no  pawn-shops,  and  have  very  few  people  sent 
to  the  poorhouse,  and  have  had  no  prostitution.  I made 
inquiry  before  coming  to  give  evidence  before  this  com- 
mittee, and  found  that  two  persons,  out  of  some  4000 
people,  were  in  the  poorhouse — one  a weak-minded  woman 
who  came  from  Lurgan,  twenty  miles  off,  and  who  was  for 
a time  out  of  charity  brought  to  our  place.  On  referring 
to  the  poorhouse  returns  for  last  week,  I found  that  there 
were  eleven  inside  and  nine  outside  persons  receiving- 
relief  in  our  electoral  division,  called  Camlough,  containing 
more  than  8000  people,  while  in  Rewry,  a respectable 
and  wealthy  town  near  us,  containing  by  the  last  census 
14,000  inhabitants,  and  which  now  probably  contains 
16,000,  there  appear  to  be  126  inside  and  eleven  outside 
paupers.  In  the  town  of  Re  wry  there  are  127  public- 
houses,  two  spirit  grocers,  and  fifteen  to  twenty  wholesale 
dealers  in  the  liquor  trade,  making  149  in  all ; thus  giving 
one  dealer  in  liquor  for  every  126  persons,  which  shows 
six  and  a half  times  as  many  in  proportion  to  our  electoral 
division,  which  is  x-eally  a poor  one,  including  the  village 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


441 


of  Camlough,  containing’  seven  public-houses,  which,  no 
doubt,  add  to  the  poverty  of  our  district.  So  far  as  I can 
remember,  we  have  not  had  thirty  cases  before  the  bench 
of  magistrates  out  of  our  town  of  Bessbrook  in  the  thirty- 
one  years ; unfortunately,  I have  left  behind  me  a letter  I 
had  from  the  late  inspector  of  police  on  this  subject.  We 
have  had  more  cases  during  the  last  two  years  in  con- 
sequence of  the  increased  facility  of  our  people  getting  into 
He  wry  by  new  conveyances  which  have  been  recently 
established,  and,  perhaps,  from  our  not  having  been  so 
strict  in  choosing  some  new'  families.  I may  add  that, 
considering  the  population,  we  have  had  during  our 
time  very  few  illegitimate  births,  and  that  the  death-rate 
has  been  from  12J  to  14|-  per  1000,  and  that,  for  a factory 
population,  the  committee  will  agree  is  a very  small  pro- 
portion. We  have  about  1000  children  and  young  people 
on  the  Protestant  sabbath  school  rolls,  and  a large  number 
of  our  respectable  young  men  and  women  teaching  in 
them.” 

There  are  several  estates  in  England  where  for  a long 
time  no  liquor-shops  have  been  allowed  ; in  South  Hamp- 
shire, for  instance,  near  Winchester,  there  is  said  to  be 
a manor  of  some  two  thousand  acres,  where,  as  far  as  is 
known,  there  never  was  a public-house.” 

Referring  to  the  village  of  White  Coppice,  near  Chorley, 
Lancashire,  before  the  House  of  Lords’  Committee  (1877- 
1878),  Mr.  A.  E.  Eccles  said — 

“ The  first  nine  years  I lived  in  the  village  we  had  no 
liquor-shops,  and  then  for  seventeen  years  we  had  liquor 
shops,  and  for  the  last  fifteen  years  we  have  been  entirely 
without.  Being  young,  I recollect  very  little  about  the 
first  period,  but  during  the  seventeen  years  we  had  beer- 
shops  in  the  village  immorality  was  very  common.  I 
should  say  we  had  illegitimate  children  in  every  other 
house  ; but  during  the  last  fifteen  years  we  have  had  only 
two  cases  of  illegitimacy,  and  we  have  had  only  one  ille- 
gitimate child  born  in  the  village,  and  very  little  drunken- 
ness. That  is  a very  striking  contrast  to  the  time  when 
we  had  two  beer-shops.” 

Another  vast  and  most  successful  estate  in  England 
where  no  liquors  are  allowed  is  Saltaire,  owned  by  Titus 
Salt,  M.P. 


Statement  of 
Mr.  A.  E. 
Eccles  con- 
cerning the 
prohibition 
village  of 
White  Cop- 
pice. 


The  Saltaire 

prohibition 

estate. 


442 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  pro- 
hibition real 
estate  com- 
panies, of 
Mr.  John 
Roberts  in 
Liverpool, 
and  the 
Artisans  and 
Labourers 
General 
J)  welling 
Company 
in  London. 


The  Pall 
Mall  Gazette 
on  this  point. 


Mr.  Hep- 
worth 
Dixon’s 
description 


There  are  in  all,  it  is  said,  almost  one  thousand  estates 
and  villages  in  England  where  proprietary  prohibition  is 
enforced. 

Some  large  real  estate  companies,  in  London  and 
Liverpool,  wherever  they  extend  their  operations,  exclude 
the  public-house.  In  Liverpool,  the  firm  of  Mr.  John 
Roberts,  M.P.,  for  the  Flintshire  boroughs,  hold  vast 
amounts  of  property  in  the  city,  so  that  in  1882  the  land 
laid  out,  or  in  course  of  being  laid  out  by  him,  amounted 
to  between  300  and  400  acres,  with  the  number  of  about 
10,000  houses  and  a population  of  60,000,  and  nowhere  on 
the  property  in  Mr.  Roberts’  hands  is  a public-house 
suffered  to  exist ; and  Mr.  Balfour,  in  his  article  in  the 
Contemporary  (August,  1879),  speaking  of  Mr.  Roberts’ 
transactions,  says  that  Mr.  Roberts  declares,  “ That  he 
never  yet  heard  of  a complaint  being  made  of  the  want  of 
a public-house,  either  from  the  houseowners  or  the  tenant. 
And  it  is  well  known  how  prosperous  is  that  vast  real 
estate  company  in  London,  the  “ Artisans  and  Labourers 
General  Dwelling  Company.”  Only  last  August  they 
opened  a new  estate,  the  Roel  Park  Estate,  the  Earl  of 
Shaftesbury  presiding,  and  when  only  this  estate  is  com- 
pleted, it  will  contain  between  2000  and  3000  houses,  with 
a population  from  16,000  to  18,000. 

And  they  not  only  do  not  allow  public-houses  on  their 
estates,  but  they  even  exercise  what  influence  they  can  on 
neighbouring  landowners  to  prevent  the  establishment  of  a 
coi’don  of  public-houses  around  them. 

Commenting  on  the  estates  managed  by  the  “Artisans’ 
Labourers  and  General  Dwelling  Company,”  th e Pall  Mall 
Gazette  says — 

“ The  most  remarkable  fact  of  all,  however,  is  that  on 
all  these  three  large  estates  there  is  not  a single  public- 
house,  and  that  the  inhabitants  not  only  do  not  demur  to 
this  regulation  of  the  company,  but  actually  congratulate 
themselves  on  the  existing  condition  of  affairs,  and  strenu- 
ously resist  all  attempts  to  open  public-houses  near  the 
estates.” 

Mr.  David  Lewis,  in  his  The  Brink  Problem  and  its 
Solution  (London,  1881),  quotes  the  following  graphic 
description — by  the  late  Mr.  Hepworth  Dixon — of  the 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


443 


practical  application  of  prohibition  in  the  town  of  St. 
Johnsbury,  Vermont : — 

“No  loafer  hangs  about  the  curbstone,  not  a beggar 
can  be  seen,  no  drunkards  reel  along  the  streets,  there 
seem  to  be  no  poor.  I have  not  seen  in  two  days’  wander- 
ing up  and  down  one  child  in  rags,  one  woman  like  a slut ; 
the  men  are  all  at  work,  the  boys  and  girls  at  school.  I 
see  no  broken  panes  of  glass,  no  shingles  hanging  from 
the  roof,  no  yard  is  left  in  an  untidy  state.  What  are  the 
secrets  of  this  artisans’  paradise  ? Why  is  the  place  so 
clean,  the  people  so  well  housed  and  fed  ? Why  are  little 
folks  so  hale  in  face,  so  smart  in  person,  and  so  neat  in 
dress  P All  voices,  I am  bound  to  say,  reply  to  me  that 
these  unusual  yet  desirable  conditions  in  a workman’s 
village  spring  from  a strict  enforcement  of  the  law  pro- 
hibiting the  sale  of  intoxicating  drink.” 

And  the  subjoined  list  of  questions,  asked  by  Mr.  F.  B. 
Boyce,  Hon.  Secretary  Hew  South  Wales  Local  Option 
League,  and  recently  answered  by  the  chief  clerk  of  the 
town  of  Pullman,  U.S.A.,  is  full  of  pertinent  interest  : — 

“ In  what  year  was  the  city  of  Pullman  founded  ? 

“Answer:  27th  May,  1880. 

“ What  is  the  population  at  present  ? 

“ Answer  : 7500. 

“How  many  churches  does  it  contain  P 

“ Answer  : Five  have  organizations  here. 

“ How  many  schools  also,  and  teachers  employed  ? 

“ Answer : Two  school  buildings,  and  thirteen  public 
school  teachers. 

“ How  many  lock-ups  or  gaols  ? 

“Answer:  None. 

“ Number  of  magistrates,  with  amount  of  salaries  ? 

“ Answer : None. 

“ Number  of  police,  and  their  cost  ? 

“Answer  : One,  at  £12  a month. 

“ What  is  the  annual  amount  spent  on  relief  of  the 
poor  ? 

“ Answer : Nothing. 

“ Can  you  furnish  us  with  your  statistics  of  crime  ? 

“Answer:  We  have  had  no  crime. 

“ Have  you  any  asylums,  such  as  those  for  lunatics, 
orphans,  benevolent,  etc.  ? 


of  the  results 
of  prohibi- 
tion in  St. 
Johnsbury, 
Vermont. 


Success  of 
prohibition 
in  the  town 
of  Pullman, 
U.S.A. 


444 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Temperance 
measures 
which  might 
he  adopted 
by  the 

wealthy  rail- 
way com- 
panies of 
Great  Bri- 
tain. 

Dr.  J.  G. 
Holland  on 
“ Bum  and 
Railroads.” 


The  lead 
taken  by 
Engineer 
George 
Stephenson. 


Action  by 
the  West 
Lancashire 
Railway 
Company 
in  this  direc- 
tion. 


“ Answer  : None. 

“Is  the  trade  in  strong  drink  prohibited  P 

“Answer  : Sale  of  malt,  vinous,  and  spirituous  liquors 
forbidden. 

“ Do  you  attribute  to  the  absence  of  facilities  for 
getting  drink  any  improved  state  of  morals,  as  compared 
with  other  cities  in  your  state  P 

“Answer:  We  certainly  do,  as  one  important  aid  in 
this  direction.” 

§ 98.  Great  good  could  be  accomplished  if  the  wealthy 
railway  companies  of  Great  Britain  would  exclude  liquors 
from  their  refreshment-rooms,  and  furnish  thirsty  travellers 
with  plenty  of  fresh  pure  water  and  the  various  non- 
intoxicating drinks. 

In  his  paper  on  Rum  and  Railroads  ( Scribner  s Monthly , 
May,  1872),  Dr.  J.  G.  Holland  says — “ There  is  an  influence 
proceeding  from  the  highest  managing  man  in  a railroad 
corporation,  which  reaches  further  for  good  or  evil  than 
that  of  almost  any  other  man  in  any  community.  If  the 
president  or  superintendent  of  a railroad  is  a man  of  free 
and  easy  habits,  if  he  is  in  the  habit  of  taking  his  stimu- 
lating glass,  his  railroad  becomes  a canal  through  which 
a stream  of  liquor  flows  from  end  to  end.  A drinking 
head  man  on  any  railroad,  reproduces  himself  at  every 
post  on  bis  line,  as  a rule.  A thorough  temperance  man 
at  the  head  of  a corporation  is  a great  purifier,  and  his 
road  becomes  the  distributer  of  pure  influences.” 

The  famous  engineer,  George  Stephenson,  manager  of 
the  Darlington  and  Stockton  Railway  Company — the 
oldest  in  the  world — allowed  no  liquors  to  be  sold  at  the 
stations  of  his  line,  and,  after  twenty-five  years’  connection 
with  the  company,  declared  that  he  was  satisfied  “ that  if 
all  railway  companies  were  to  do  away  with  the  sale  of 
drink  at  their  stations,  they  would  be  best  consulting  the 
interests  of  the  shareholders  and  the  welfare  of  the 
travelling  public.” 

Since  his  day,  until  recently,  temperance  reform  has 
made  but  slow  progress  among  railway  men,  but  of  late 
years  it  is  advancing  both  here  and  in  other  countries.  In 
the  winter  of  1883  an  encouraging  example  in  this  direc- 
tion was  set  by  the  West  Lancashire  Railway  Company, 
whose  general  manager,  Mr.  T.  Gilbert,  wrote  to  the 
British  Women  s Temperance  Association  : — 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


44?  5 


“ I have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  this  company 
has  no  refreshment-rooms  at  any  of  its  stations  where 
intoxicating  liquors  are  sold.  It  may  be  also  interesting  to 
you  to  know  that  the  whole  of  the  company’s  officials  are 
total  abstainers,  and  that  no  man  receives  an  appointment 
under  the  company  unless  he  has  previously  been  an 
abstainer  of  some  standing.” 

At  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Midland  Railway 
Temperance  Society,  held  at  the  Derby  Station  in  February, 
1884,  the  chairman,  Mr.  John  ISToble,  gave  a most  en- 
couraging account  of  the  growing  success  of  the  total 
abstinence  movement,  not  only  all  along  the  Midland  line, 
but  the  Railway  Union  at  large,  and  stated  that  public 
sentiment  along  these  great  lines  was  daily  becoming  more 
favourable  to  this  reform. 

A correspondent  of  On  the  Line  states  that  the  Great 
Eastern  Railway  supplies  the  “ men  at  the  London  depots 
with  oatmeal  drink,  in  large  cans  with  a tap  to  them, 
with  drinking-cup  attached,  available  to  the  men  as  they 
are  at  work,  and  that  it  is  greatly  appreciated  by  them.” 

In  its  annual  report,  May,  1884,  the  Church  of  England 
Temperance  Society  states  that  “ at  least  10,000  out  of 
350,000  railway  men  work  in  the  cause  of  temperance.” 

In  a paper  on  Drinking  and  Positions  of  Trust , the 
Toronto  Globe  (Canada,  February  6,  1884)  says — 

“ The  authorities  of  the  Winconsin  Central  Railway 
issued  in  October  last  an  order  requiring  the  instant  dis- 
missal of  any  employe  who  might  drink  even  beer  whether 
off  or  on  duty.  There  was  a good  deal  of  opposition  to 
the  order  at  first,  as  if  it  infringed  upon  private  rights, 
etc.,  but  it  has  wrought  so  well  that  we  are  told  several 
other  large  railway  corporations  are  thinking  of  following 
the  same  course.  This  is  in  the  right  direction.  The 
travelling  public  have  a right  to  the  greatest  possible  pro- 
tection, when  on  their  necessary  journeyings,  and  they  will 
be  pleased  to  know  that  none  who  are  in  charge  of  trains 
have  even  the  chance  of  becoming  drunkards.  A man 
does  not  need  to  be  drunk  in  order  to  work  irreparable 
mischief.  An  extra  glass,  by  giving  him  a certain  amount 
of  unsteadiness  of  hand  or  brain,  may  do  all ; and  these 
railway  authorities  in  Wisconsin  do  well  to  say  to  all  who 
seek  employment  from  them,  ‘ You  can’t  drink  and  work 


Growing 
success  of 
the  total 
abstinence 
movement 
on  the 

Midland  line, 
and  in  the 
Railway 
Union  at 
large. 

Oatmeal 
drink  sup- 
plied by  the 
Great  East- 
ern Railway 
Company 
to  their 
employes. 


The  Toronto 
Globe  (Feb- 
ruary 6,1884) 
on  “ Drink- 
ing and 
of  Positions 
Trust.” 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


446 


Mr.  W.  J. 
Spicer's 
circular  to 
the  Grand 
Trunk 
Railway. 


for  ns.  We  don’t  ask  you«to  give  over  drinking.  That’s 
your  look-out,  and  you  have  a right  to  do  as  you  please. 
But  if  you  will  drink  you  are  not  for  us.  We  require  men 
who  have  all  their  wits  about  them,  and  that  any  one  who 
drinks  never  has.’  What  is  wrong  in  that?  We  can  see 
nothing.  More  than  this,  we  can  see  nothing  but  what  is 
reasonable  in  employers  of  labour  all  round  adopting  the 
same  principle.  It  is  not  the  man  who  is  actually  drunk 
that  causes  the  mischief  by  breaking  machinery,  com- 
promising his  employers,  and  causing  confusion  all  round. 
It  is  the  man  who  thinks  himself  perfectly  sober — the  man 
who  has  only  taken  ‘ a couple  of  glasses  of  beer,’  or  a 
single  ‘ horn  ’ of  ‘ summat,’  but  who  by  these  means  has 
had  his  pulse  raised  a few  degrees,  has  been  made 
aggressive,  daring,  slightly  reckless,  yet  sufficiently  so  to 
make  all  the  mischief.  It  is  the  man  who  thinks  that 
drink  ‘could  not  be  known  on  him,’  but  whose  tongue  has 
been  slightly  loosed,  and  who  has  been  led  to  believe  that 
usually  he  had  been  but  a slow-coach,  and  must  show  some 
more  ‘go.’  This  is  the  sort  of  man  that  a shrewd  employer 
ought  to  fight  shy  of.  . . . The  clear  brain  and  the  steady 
nerve  are  more  and  more  in  requisition,  and  these  are  not 
compatible  with  even  moderate  tippling  and  occasional 
‘ bursts.’  ” 

And  the  Temperance  Record  (February  28, 1884)  quotes 
the  following  circular  to  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway,  issued 
by  its  superintendent,  Mr.  W.  J.  Spicer  : — 

“ I would  ask  you  to  consider  very  seriously  the 
advisability  of  joining  our  temperance  movement  for  the 
year  1884.  In  my  circular,  December,  1880,  I said  ‘ there 
were  a good  many  reasons  specially  applicable  to  railway 
employes  for  abstaining  from  the  use  of  intoxicating 
drinks.’ 

“ You  have  the  lives  of  the  public  and  the  safety  of 
persons  and  property  entrusted  to  your  care,  requiring  at 
all  times  the  utmost  possible  caution  and  vigilance  in  the 
performance  of  your  duty.  Again,  railway  employes , from 
their  liability  to  night  work,  irregular  hours,  exposure  to 
all  kinds  of  weather,  and  from  the  foolish  and  expensive 
custom  of  ‘treating,’  are  exposed  to  much  danger  and 
many  temptations.  Even  passengers  have  gone  so  far  as 
to  offer,  and  in  fact  urge,  conductors  and  brakesmen,  when 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


447 


on  duty,  to  take  drink,  and  have  been  the  cause  of  train- 
men’s dismissal  from  the  service.  I am  sorry  to  say  that 
I have  had  to  deal  summarily  with  such  cases  as  have 
come  to  my  knowledge.  I only  wish  I could  deal  as 
severely  with  the  perhaps  good-natured  but  most  thought- 
less and  inconsiderate  passengers. 

“Men  subjected  to  such  temptations,  at  any  time,  are 
safe  only  as  total  abstainers.  The  ‘ one  glass  more  ’ often 
has  the  effect  of  making  a man  careless,  sleepy,  and  in- 
different to  danger,  if  not  worse,  at  a time  when  he  most 
needs  to  have  all  his  senses  clear  and  wide  awake  for  his 
own  and  other’s  safety. 

“ I have  only  to  refer  you  to  the  Offence  Circulars  to 
satisfy  you  that  I am  speaking  in  the  best  interest  of 
every  employe  of  every  grade,  and  in  the  interest  of  the 
company  and  the  public,  in  urging  you  to  become  total 
abstainers  for  the  year  1884.” 

The  discontinuance  of  the  custom  of  distributing  drink 
to  crews  now  so  largely  the  rule  both  on  the  inland  lakes 
of  the  United  States,  on  river  crafts,  ocean  steamers,  sail- 
ing vessels,  and  men-of-war,  originated  with  Mr.  Charles 
Howard,  one  of  the  pioneer  shipping  merchants  of  the 
United  States.  His  son,  the  distinguished  American 
author  and  playwright,  Mr.  Bronson  Howard,  tells  the 
story  so  well  that  I prefer  giving  it  in  his  own  words  from 
a letter  written  to  me  March  31,  1884,  as  follows  : — 

“ My  father  was  personally  associated  with  the  shipping 
of  the  lakes  from  his  earliest  manhood,  being  half  owner 
and  master  of  a vessel,  the  New  Yorh,  before  he  was  twenty- 
five  years  old ; and  he  was  said  to  have  been  the  original 
of  Fenniinore  Cooper’s  young  sailor  Jasper  in  the  Pathfinder. 
In  1830,  when  he  was  about  twenty-six  years  old,  and 
while  he  was  master  or  ‘ captain  ’ of  this  vessel — one  of  a 
large  fleet  in  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario — the  incident  of 
which  I spoke  to  you  occurred,  and  which  was,  I think,  the 
beginning  of  the  temperance  system  now  almost  universal 
in  the  mercantile  marine  of  the  ocean  and  the  lakes. 

“ In  those  days  of  general  ‘ hard  drinking  ’ it  was  the 
custom  on  our  lakes  to  have  a keg  of  whisky  in  the  com- 
panion-way of  every  vessel,  with  its  tap  free  to  every 
member  of  the  crew.  Any  deviation  from  this  rule  would 
have  been  considered  mean  and  niggardly.  The  rule  on 


Mr.  Bronson 
Howard’s 
account  of 
the  origin  of 
temperance 
reform  on 
the  lakes  and 
the  ocean. 


448 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


the  ocean  was,  I believe,  to  serve  out  £ grog  ’ to  the  men, 
hut  this  was  done  in  such  liberal  quantities  as  to  make  the 
custom  differ  but  little  from  that  in  vogue  on  the  American 
lakes.  No  owner  or  captain  was  free  from  the  absolute 
tyranny  of  this  custom-law. 

“ During  one  of  my  father’s  voyages,  late  in  December, 
1830,  the  crew  suffered  frightfully  from  a violent  storm, 
with  snow,  sleet,  and  ice.  All  their  physical  energies 
were  needed  to  control  the  vessel.  What  makes  such  a 
situation  doubly  fatiguing  and  perilous  is  the  fact  that  it 
is  impossible  to  run  before  the  storm  as  on  the  ocean,  and 
the  men  are  obliged  to  handle  the  sails  and  rigging  at 
frequent  intervals,  though  every  rope  and  every  inch  of 
canvas  is  coated  with  ice.  About  one  half  of  my  father’s 
crew  drank  nothing  in  the  way  of  spirits  while  at  work ; 
the  other  half  drew  liberally  on  the  keg  to  ‘keep  them 
warm.’  If  ever  whisky  could  do  this  service  for  mankind, 
it  could  do  it  under  such  circumstances.  The  result  was 
that  my  father  was  obliged  to  depend  entirely  on  the  half 
of  his  crew  that  did  not  drink,  for  nearly  thirty-six  hours. 
At  last  they  were  forced  to  do  the  duty  of  both  watches ; 
and  as  the  second  in  command,  the  ‘ mate,’  Avas  one  of  the 
alcoholists,  my  father  was  compelled  to  remain  in  active 
command  during  the  whole  time  without  rest,  until  the 
vessel  was  safe.  He  has  frequently  told  me  Avith  special 
emphasis  that  the  men  who  drank  did  not  make  themselves 
drunk,  and  were  not  in  that  sense  incapacitated  on  deck, 
while  the  other  men  were  able  to  do  double  work. 

“ This  was  only  the  last  of  many  similar  experiences, 
which  had  been  almost  as  bad,  and  after  the  storm  had 
subsided,  my  father,  in  a spirit  of  utter  disgust,  turned 
open  the  tap  of  the  whisky  keg,  on  his  way  down  to  the 
cabin,  leaving  the  sacred  fluid  to  its  own  unfettered  fancy  ! 
Soon  after  the  mate  appeared,  and  father  saAv  him  looking 
at  the  open  faucet  and  shaking  the  empty  keg  with  an 
expression  of  wonderment  and  dismay.  When  my  father 
told  him  that  the  last  drop  of  spirits  had  been  drunk  on 
board  that  vessel  in  the  Avay  of  ‘ grog,’  the  mate  exclaimed 
in  astonishment  and  said  that  no  owner  nor  captain  could 
carry  out  such  a wild  plan.  He  and  his  felloAv-drinkers 
left  the  crew  at  the  end  of  the  trip.  Others,  Avilling  to  go 
without  ‘ grog,’  were  engaged  in  their  places. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


449 


“ To  meet  tlie  certain  charge  of  niggardliness,  the 
ordinary  rough  sailors’  fare  was  changed  to  the  best  food 
the  market  of  each  port  could  supply,  including  the  finest 
coffee  and  other  luxuries,  such  as  oysters,  etc.,  when  within 
reach. 

“ My  father  persisted  in  the  plan  he  had  thus  marked 
out,  and  the  result  was  a very  important  one,  far  beyond 
his  anticipation,  for  an  all-powerful  commercial  ally 
suddenly  ranged  itself  on  the  side  of  temperance — the 
mai’ine  insurance  companies  began  at  once  to  allow  dis- 
criminating rates  on  his  vessel  and  on  goods  carried  in  it. 
All  the  other  shipowners  and  masters  on  the  lake  were 
compelled  to  adopt  the  temperance  rule,  by  the  exigencies 
of  business  competition.  From  the  lakes  the  custom 
spread — undoubtedly  through  the  powerful  pressure  of  the 
insurance  companies — to  the  ocean ; and  at  the  present 
day  the  custom  of  supplying  liquor  freely  to  sailors  is  a 
very  rare  exception,  if  it  exists  at  all.  Its  latest  strong- 
hold was  the  navy,  which  the  interests  of  insurance  com- 
panies cannot  reach,  of  course. 

“ The  great  reform  resulting  from  my  father’s  action, 
though  not  anticipated,  was  a matter  of  sincere  pleasure 
to  him  in  after  years,  as  he  watched  its  general  develop- 
ment.” 

A most  valuable  suggestion  to  wealthy  merchants  was 
made  about  four  years  ago  by  the  Honourable  Samuel 
Morley,  M.P.  “ The  City  of  London  Total  Abstainers 
Union  had  its  origin  in  my  warehouse,”  said  he,  “ and  I 
cannot  hut  think  some  such  association  should  be  attached  to 
every  commercial  concern." 

§ 99.  The  aristocracy,  as  a class,  have  been  tardy  in 
adding  the  weight  of  their  example  and  influence  to  the 
success  of  the  temperance  movement.  But  on  the  21st  of 
April,  1883,  a large  number  of  the  wealth  and  aristocracy 
of  London,  both  ladies  and  gentlemen,  met  at  Stafford 
House,  in  response  to  an  invitation  from  the  Duchess  of 
Sutherland,  to  join  in  the  Blue  Ribbon  movement,  for  the 
promotion  of  the  cause  of  temperance. 

Lord  Mount  Temple  presided,  and  said — 

“ The  object  of  the  meeting  was  to  bring  under  their 
notice  the  overwhelming  evils  to  the  country  resulting 
from  the  misuse  of  intoxicating  and  stimulating  drinks. 

2 G 


Suggestion 
made  by 
Hon.  Samuel 
Morley,  M.P., 
that  an 
Abstainers 
Union 
should  be 
attached  to 
every  com- 
mercial con- 
cern. 

Action  in 
favour  of  the 
Blue  Ribbon 
movement 
and  other 
temperance 
measures 
by  the 
aristocracy 
of  England. 


450 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


That  abuse  filled  our  gaols,  poor-law  unions,  and  lunatic 
asylums  ; brought  misery,  strife,  and  ruin  to  many  of  the 
homes  of  the  working  classes ; and  overshadowed  with 
sorrow  and  sympathy  even  those  who  were  free  from  any 
personal  experience  of  its  evils,  and  who  lived  in  comfort 
and  refinement  in  such  houses  as  that  in  which  they  were 
gathered.  Another  point  to  consider  was  the  remedy  for 
this  deplorable  state  of  things.  The  remedy  which  had 
been  found  by  experience  to  be  the  most  complete  and 
satisfactory  was  for  persons  to  pledge  themselves  to  resist 
temptation.  But  that  was  beyond  the  reach  of  many. 
There  had  now  been  established  a new  form  of  fellowship, 
conviviality,  and  brotherhood,  and  that  was  the  fellowship 
of  the  Blue  Ribbon.  The  Blue  Ribbon  established  a public 
opinion  adverse  to  the  drink  influence.*  It  had  created  a 
large  amount  of  public  opinion  in  favour  of  total  abstinence. 
It  brought  together  the  middle,  lower,  and  upper  classes, 
and  established  a common  feeling.  The  question  then 
arose,  What  was  their  duty  to  help  on  the  new  movement  ? 
Their  example  would  be  felt  much  more  than  any  amount 
of  precept.  He  earnestly  appealed  to  the  aristocracy  to 
join  the  new  movement,  as  a means  of  conferring  great 
and  lasting  benefits  upon  the  poorer  classes.  It  would 
necessitate  some  self-sacrifice,  and  perhaps  call  down  upon 
them  sneers  and  censure,  but  it  was  their  duty ; and 
not  only  that,  but,  as  in  his  own  case,  they  would  find 
many  compensations  for  the  sacrifice.  The  noble  lady, 
too,  who  had  invited  them  had  exercised  disinterested- 
ness, almost  chivalrous  courage,  in  adopting  the  blue 
ribbon,  an  example  which  he  trusted  would  be  widely  fol- 
lowed, for  it  would  help  to  carry  light  and  joy  into  many 
a home.” 

During  the  year  1883,  several  of  the  nobility  have 
identified  themselves  in  a practical  way  with  the  temper- 
ance cause.  Thus,  according  to  the  annual  report  of  the 

* “ The  Eev.  S.  Sturges,  M.A.,  Vicar  of  Wargrave,  in  his  stirring 
speech  in  Willis’s  Rooms,  remarked,  ‘ What  a glorious  thing  it  would 
be  if  the  Princess  of  Wales  and  her  daughters  would  assume  the  blue 
ribbon  ! The  Princess  of  Wales  has  endeared  herself  to  the  people  of 
this  country  by  her  many  admirable  qualities.  Recently  she  has 
discountenanced  the  cruel  sport  of  pigeon-shooting.  But  what  is 
that  compared  to  the  cruel  sport  of  drinking  ? ’ ” — Church  of  England 
Temperance  Chronicle,  May  12,  1883. 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


451 


Church  of  England  Temperance  Society,  just  published, 
“ during  the  year  coffee-taverns  have  been  opened  in 
Maryleboue,  at  the  sole  cost  of  Viscountess  Ossington;  in 
Wells,  chiefly  owing  to  the  activity  of  the  Lord  Bishop  of 
the  Diocese ; and  only  in  January  last  Lord  Pembroke 
announced  his  intention  of  providing  similar  institutions 
upon  his  own  estates.  . . . In  May  last,  Lady  de  Rothschild 
invited  the  leading  agriculturists,  farmers,  and  others  to  a 
conference  at  Aston  Clinton,  when  62  out  of  66  farmers 
invited  attended.  A resolution  approving  the  payment 
of  wages  in  money  instead  of  beer  was  unanimously 
passed.” 

At  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  new  wing  of 
the  London  Temperance  Hospital  on  the  24th  of  April,  1884, 
the  Duke  of  Westminster,  who  officiated,  said  of  alcohol 
that  it  had  a tendency  to  produce  artificial  craving,  and 
that  many  ignorant  people  had  been  led  to  suppose,  because 
doctors  prescribed  wine  and  spirits,  they  must  be  a 
necessary  means  of  cure  for  most  maladies,  and  this  mis- 
taken notion  had  laid  the  groundwork  for  habits  of 
dangerous  self-indulgence  which  might  otherwise  never 
have  been  formed.  The  Duke  of  Westminster  informs 
me  that  since  1877  there  have  been  “ twenty-seven  public- 
houses  abolished  on  his  London  property.” 

It  is  of  great  importance  that  temperance  workers 
should  know  and  value  the  blue  ribbon.  It  has  a deep 
symbolic  meaning,  and  in  a manifold  sense : sympathy 
with  the  fallen,  sorrow  that  such  a badge  is  necessary ; 
hope,  because  of  faith  in  God  and  man ; and  help,  by  fellow- 
ship and  willingness,  to  do  each  his  part  in  saving  from 
the  evil  of  drink.  The  blue  ribbon  is  a personal  protest 
against  drinking,  a Christian  Carthaginem  prceterea 
censeo  against  the  public-house,  a reminder  and  check 
against  personal  temptation  to  drink,  a protection  against 
solicitations  to  drink,  an  example  and  encouragement  to 
those  who  might  falter  and  fall,  and  a bond  of  fellowship 
between  all  those  wdio  wish  to  see  man  lifted  out  of  the 
degradation  into  which  alcohol  has  plunged  him.  The 
bit  of  blue  ribbon  which  Mr.  Samuel  Morley,  M.P.,  wears 
in  the  House  of  Commons  and  in  the  streets  of  the  city,  or 
when  presiding  over  large  temperance  and  other  meetings 
for  reform,  is  greater  in  its  silent  influence  than  anything 


The  signifi- 
cance of  the 
Blue  Ribbon 
movement. 


452 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Mr.  Glad- 
stone’s 
utterance 
as  to  the 
significance 
of  the  Blue 
Ribbon 
movement. 


The  plan  and 
organization 
of  the  Tem- 
perance 
Federation 
of  Great 
Britain,  1883. 


he  could  say  if  that  little  sign  were  missing.  Many  think 
that  the  wearing  of  the  blue  ribbon  is  a childish  sign  of 
an  enthusiasm  that  will  vanish  as  quickly  as  it  sprung  up. 
But  they  who  wear  it  hope  and  pray  that,  like  that  tiny 
portent  in  the  sky,  “ no  bigger  than  a man’s  hand,”  it  will 
spread  and  spread  until  among  all  peoples  in  all  lands 
the  parching  thirst,  the  destroying  drought  of  alcohol, 
may  be  quenched  in  healing  streams  of  pure  invigorating 
water. 

The  Rev.  A.  C.  Bevington,  minister  of  the  Methodist 
New  Connexion  Chapel  at  Hawarden,  writing  to  the  editor 
of  the  British  Temperance  Advocate , says  that  the  Right 
Honourable  W.  E.  Gladstone,  in  a recent  conversation  with 
him  at  Hawarden,  thus  expressed  himself  relative  to  the 
Blue  Ribbon  movement : — 

“ Erom  the  first,  I have  watched  the  temperance 
question  with  great  interest ; but  I am  bound  to  say  that 
no  phase  of  it  has  ever  yielded  me  so  much  satisfaction 
as  this  has  done.  To  witness  the  large  number  of  ministers 
of  all  denominations,  and,  of  course,  the  still  larger  number 
of  members  of  perhaps  all  the  Churches,  wearing  the 
ribbon  of  blue,  is  an  exceedingly  gratifying  circumstance, 
and  speaks  well  for  the  future  ; * indeed,  I firmly  believe, 
as  far  as  this  matter  is  concerned,  that  much  brighter  days 
will  soon,  in  God’s  good  providence,  dawn  upon  us.” 

§ 100.  The  initiative  in  a measure  of  very  great  import- 
ance— if  harmony  can  be  maintained — to  the  temperance 
movement  has  just  been  taken  in  the  proposition  of  Aider- 
man  Clegg  of  Sheffield  (chairman  of  the  British  Temperance 
League),  that  all  the  temperance  organizations  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  should  form  a Temperance  Federa- 
tion. To  this  end  a meeting  was  held  at  Manchester,  on 
the  17th  of  October,  at  which  some  seventeen  temperance 
societies  were  represented.  After  long  discussion,  it  was 
resolved — 

“ That  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting  it  is  desirable  to 
federate  the  various  temperance  organizations  of  the  United 
Kingdom  in  favour  of  measures  upon  which  there  is  a 
general  agreement,  and  that  a committee  of  delegates  be 

* It  is  an  encouraging  fact  that  so  important  a personage  as  Sir 
W.  F.  Stawell,  the  Chief  Justice  of  Victoria,  has  donned  the  blue 
ribbon.  (See  Temperance  Record,  May  S,  1SS4.) 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


453 


appointed  by  this  meeting  to  confer  with  the  British 
Temperance  League,  and  to  draw  the  basis  upon  which 
such  federation  should  be  founded.” 

On  the  8th  of  November,  another  large  conference  of 
delegates  from  the  United  Kingdom  Temperance  organiza- 
tions was  convened  at  Exeter  Hall,  representing  some  two 
million  total  abstainers,  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  up  a 
constitution  of  federation.  The  following  rules  were 
adopted : — 

“ 1.  That  the  Federation  be  styled  ‘ The  National  Temperance 
Federation.’ 

2.  That  the  objects  of  the  Federation  shall  be  the  promotion  of 
temperance,  both  by  moral  suasion  and  legal  enactment,  by  aid  of 
the  joint  action  of  temperance  organizations. 

3.  That  the  Federation  shall  consist  of  temperance  leagues,  unions, 
associations,  and  orders,  and  such  other  representative  organizations 
as  may  be  approved  by  the  Executive  Committee. 

4.  That  the  General  Council  shall  consist  of  not  more  than  five 
delegates  from  each  federated  society,  and  shall  meet  annually  in 
London  in  January  or  February;  and  an  autumnal  meeting  shall  be 
held  in  some  provincial  town. 

5.  The  officers  shall  be  elected  by  the  General  Council  at  the 
annual  meeting,  and  shall  consist  of  a president  (who  shall  be 
elected  annually),  vice-presidents,  treasurer,  and  secretaries. 

6.  The  Executive  Committee  shall  consist  of  one  representative 
president  from  each  federated  society,  together  with  the  treasurer 
and  secretaries ; and  shall  meet  not  less  than  once  a quarter,  at  such 
time  and  place  as  they  shall  from  time  to  time  determine. 

7.  That  the  Executive  Committee  shall  appoint  a Parliamentary 
Committee,  which,  during  the  sitting  of  Parliament,  shall  meet  once 
a week,  or  as  often  as  may  be  necessary. 

8.  That  no  expenses  shall  be  incurred  without  the  consent  of  the 
Executive  Committee,  and  such  expenses  shall  be  met  by  contribu- 
tions from  the  federated  societies. 

9.  That  no  alteration  in  the  above  rules  (when  once  adopted  by 
the  General  Council)  shall  be  made  except  at  the  annual  meeting, 
or  at  a meeting  specially  called;  and  that  one  month’s  notice  of  any 
proposed  alteration  shall  be  given  through  the  secretary,  and  shall 
not  take  effect  except  there  be  a two-thirds  majority  in  its  favour. 


Suggested  Basis. 

The  basis  of  co-operation  for  tbe  federated  societies  is 
that  they  should  work  together  in  view  of  legislative  and 
other  action  on  the  points  upon  which  they  are  agreed, 
and  bring  their  influence  to  bear  on  Parliament,  and  with 


454 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


her  Majesty’s  Government,  and  throngh  the  country 
generally,  as  a united  body  ; such  common  action  to 
extend,  of  course,  only  so  far  as  there  is  common  agree- 
ment, and  to  be  made  subservient  to  the  carrying  of 
measures  of  positive  advance,  as  well  as  to  the  careful 
guarding  against  any  proposals  of  a retrograde  nature. 

Suggested  Points  on  -which  Common  Action  Might  be  taken. 

1.  The  Federation  might  at  once,  by  a united  memorial,  signed 
by  the  officers  of  each  organization,  urge  on  the  Cabinet  the  duty 
of  extending  and  making  perpetual  the  Irish  Sunday  Closing  Act, 
and  of  acceding  to  the  nation’s  manifest  desire  for  an  English 
Sunday  Closing  Bill ; and  also  the  duty  of  their  seeing  that  time  is 
made  available  during  the  coming  session  for  such  legislation;  and 
at  the  proper  time  the  Federation  might  be  strongly  represented  in 
the  lobby  of  the  Honse  of  Commons,  in  order  to  ensure  the  success  of 
these  measures. 

2.  The  federated  organizations  might  urge  upon  her  Majesty’s 
Government  the  further  duty  of  fulfilling  the  pledges  so  often  given 
by  them,  to  deal  with  the  Licensing  Laws  in  general,  and  to  no  longer 
postpone  action  in  this  regard;  viewing  the  now  thrice-expressed 
opinion  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  favour  of  an  efficient  measure 
of  Local  Option.  They  might  urge  especially  two  points  : — 

(a)  That  the  control  of  the  issue  of  licences,  whether  for  the  first 

time,  or  by  way  of  renewal,  transfer,  or  removal,  should 
be  in  the  hands  of  the  ratepayers,  and  that  in  present  cir- 
cumstances this  may  be  done  by  the  formation  of  Licens- 
ing Control  Boards,  specially  elected  for  the  purpose  by 
the  ratepayers,  and  with  full  power  to  withhold  all  or  any 
of  the  Licences ; but  that  in  any  well-defined  area  forming 
part  of  a district  for  which  a board  has  been  elected,  the 
ratepayers  shall  have  a direct  veto  for  the  withholding  of 
all  licences. 

(b)  That  by  no  parliamentary  enactment  should  there  be  a 

creating  of  vested  interests  in  licences,  which  interests 
legal  decisions  have  emphatically  declared  do  not  exist. 

With  reference  to  this  question  also  a joint  memorial  to  the 
Cabinet  might  be  of  value  at  this  time,  as  well  as  the  careful  watch- 
ing of  any  Government,  or  other  measure  proposed,  and  prompt 
action  either  in  support  of,  or  opposition,  to,  or  for  amendment  of, 
the  same. 

3.  An  emphatic  joint  expression  of  opinion  in  favour  of  the  sup- 
pression of  grocers’  and  off  licences  might  likewise  be  at  once  for- 
warded to  the  Government ; as  well  as  against  the  power  of  granting 
occasional  licences,  or  extension  of  hours,  and  in  favour  of  closing 
public-houses  on  the  days  of  municipal  and  parliamentary  elections. 


It  was  also  resolved — 1.  Tliat  the  Federation  does  not 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


455 


approve  of,  but  will  oppose  to  the  full  extent  of  its  influ- 
ence, the  placing-  of  the  power  of  granting  licences  in  the 
hands  of  Town  Councils  or  County  Boards.  2.  That  each 
organization  represented  be  invited  to  contribute  not  less 
than  £5  each,  to  meet  the  incidental  expenses  of  the 
Federation  during  the  first  year.” 

On  the  6th  of  February,  1884,  a meeting  was  held  at 
Exeter  Hall  by  delegates  of  this  proposed  federation,  and 
it  was  resolved  to  form  a National  Temperance  Federation 
on  the  following  basis : — 

“ The  basis  of  co-operation  for  the  federated  societies  is 
that  they  should  work  together  in  view  of  legislative  and 
other  action  on  the  points  upon  which  they  are  agreed, 
and  bring  their  influence  to  bear  on  Parliament  and  with 
her  Majesty’s  Government,  and  through  the  country  gene- 
rally, as  a united  body ; such  common  action  to  extend,  of 
course,  only  so  far  as  there  is  common  agreement,  and  to 
be  made  subservient  to  the  carrying  of  measures  of  positive 
advance,  as  well  as  to  the  careful  guarding  against  any 
proposals  of  a retrograde  nature.” — Mr.  W.  T.  Caine,  M.P., 
was  elected  president,  and  vice-presidents  and  other  officers 
were  appointed. 


§ 101.  Yet  all  these  noble  and  heroic  efforts  will 
collapse,  as  in  the  past,  if  they  be  not  founded  in  individual 
character  and  worth. 

On  the  individual,  be  he  rich  or  poor,  eminent  or 
obscure ; on  his  patience,  unselfishness,  wisdom,  constancy, 
and  humility,  all  reform,  all  regeneration,  comes  at  last  to 
depend ; without  these,  Church,  State,  and  society,  together 
with  their  loftiest  schemes,  fall  little  by  little  into  moral 
decay. 

The  first  thing  is,  for  each  man,  woman,  and  child  of 
us,  yes,  each  one,  the  greatest  and  the  least,  to  start  with 
the  conviction  and  understanding  that  temperance  is  not 
limited  to  abstinence  from  alcoholic  liquors,  but  that  it 
means,  as  Cicero  expressed  it,  “ the  unyielding  control  of 
reason  over  lust  and  over  all  wrong  tendencies  of  mind 
, . . modesty  and  self-government  . . . abstinence  from 
all  things  not  good  and  entirely  innocent  in  tlieir  character." 

And  to  remember  that  while  the  work  to  be  done  is  so 


The  founda- 
tion of  all 
temperance 
reform  in 
individual 
character 
and  worth. 


456 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


The  hope  of 
temperance 
reform — like 
the  hope  of 
all  other 
reforms — 
is  vested 
in  love, 
labour,  and 
humility. 


great  that  no  one  person  could  ever  hope  to  do  it,  and  the 
evil  to  be  uprooted  so  strong  and  full-grown  that  we  may 
not  reasonably  look  for  its  subj  ugation  in  our  own  day,  yet 
that  the  work  will  be  done,  the  evil  overcome,  if  each  one 
does  his  part  towards  it* 

“ The  one  secret  of  life  and  development  is  not  to  devise 
and  plan,  but  to  fall  in  with  the  forces  at  work— to  do 
every  moment’s  duty  aright.”  f 

Then,  in  whatsoever  place,  circumstance,  or  condition 
we  are  placed,  we  are  to  find  out,  each  of  us,  what  our  own 
personal  individual  duty  is,  and  we  shall  be  sure  to  find 
this  out  if  we  care  supremely  to  know. 

With  the  performance  of  duty  will  come  wisdom,  show- 
ing us  how  to  avoid  giving  offence,  how  to  undermine 
and  subdue  evil  without  woundiug  friend  or  affronting 
opponent.  With  wisdom  also  will  come  patience,  because 
we  shall  leam  to  understand  that  what  is  gained  easily, 
too  often  passes  quickly  because  it  is  not  gained  thoroughly , 
and  we  shall  learn  not  to  be  dismayed  by  much  labour, 
and  much  waiting,  because  we  shall,  by  our  persistence 
and  constancy,  have  learned  unselfishness,  and  know  that 
what  we  are  sowing  shall  be  reaped  by  them  that  come 

* A noble  instance  of  just  this  individual  fidelity,  as  related  of 
the  late  Mr.  Joseph  Sturge  by  the  philanthropist  Mr.  T.  B.  Smithies, 
is  thus  reported  in  The  Christian  (March  6,  1883) — 

“ One  day  Mr.  Sturge  met  a drunken  man,  and  questioned  him  as 
to  his  condition.  The  man  replied  that  he  had  got  drunk  at  such 
and  such  a public-house,  and  added,  ‘ The  beer  was  made  from  your 
barley.’  The  statement  startled  him,  but  it  at  once  influenced  his 
action.  The  following  issue  of  the  Marie  Lane  Express  contained  a 
notice  from  Messrs.  Sturge  that  under  no  circumstances  would  they 
in  future  supply  barley  for  malting  purposes.  This  decision  struck 
off  £8000  a year  from  their  income.” 

An  equally  admirable  individual  effort  for  temperance  was  that 
made  by  the  Rev.  Carr  Glynn,  Vicar  of  Kensington,  when  appointed 
at  Doncaster.  Having  observed  the  temptation  the  public-house 
offered  to  early  outdoor  labourers,  he  procured  a cart,  supplied  it 
with  a first-class  coffee-stand ; went  himself  with  it  to  places  where 
early  outdoor  labour  was  going  on,  and  induced  the  workmen  to  take 
his  coffee  instead  of  going  to  the  public-house  to  get  whisky  or  beer. 
I have  this  incident  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Heaton,  Commissioner  of 
Lunacy. 

f See  George  MacDonald’s  noble  story  of  Sir  Gihhie  (London, 
1879). 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  ? 


457 


after  us,  when  “ bells  in  unbuilded  spires,  and  voices  of 
unborn  choirs  ” shall  bless  our  names  and  the  good  work 
we  have  done  ; and  we  shall  be  happy  in  knowing  that 
the  saplings  we  set  out,  though  they  grew  too  slowly  to 
give  shade  to  us,  will  make  the  green  and  healthy  ever- 
lasting bowers  where  our  children's  children’s  homes 
shall  be. 


APPENDIX, 


THIRTY-SEVENTH  REPORT  OF 


TABLE  XXII.— Showing  the  Assigned  Causes  of  Insanity* 
Borough  Asylums,  Registered  Hospitals,  Xaval  and  Military 
Wales,  during  the  year  1882. 

[The  total  number  of  these  admissions  during  1882  was 


Number  of  instances 


Causes  of  insanity. 

As  predisposing 
cause.f 

As  exciting 
cause. y 

M. 

F. 

T. 

M. 

F. 

T. 

Moeal. 

Domestic  trouble  (including  loss  of 

relatives  and  friends)  

42 

78 

120 

174 

554 

728 

Adverse  circumstances  (including 

business  anxieties  and  pecuni- 

ary  difficulties) 

88 

43 

131 

431 

207 

638 

Mental  anxiety  and  “worry”  (not 

included  under  the  above  two 

heads) ; and  overwork 

49 

31 

80 

263 

289 

552 

Religious  excitement 

6 

14 

20 

155 

188 

343 

Love  affairs  (including  seduction)  ... 

4 

15 

19 

39 

129 

168 

Fright  and  nervous  shock  

5 

5 

10 

36 

96 

132 

Physical. 

Intemperance,  in  drink  

135 

33 

168 

904 

364 

1,268 

„ sexual  

13 

7 

20 

54 

32 

86 

Venereal  disease  

14 

2 

16 

14 

7 

21 

Self-abuse  (sexual)  

1C 

2 

18 

79 

5 

84 

Over-exertion 

11 

5 

16 

27 

29 

56 

Sunstroke  

64 

2 

66 

67 

7 

74 

Accident  or  injury  

104 

20 

124 

160 

35 

195 

Pregnancy  

— 

11 

11 

— 

37 

37 

Parturition  and  the  puerperal  state 

— 

31 

31 

— 

346 

346 

Lactation  

— 

24 

24 

— 

123 

123 

Uterine  and  ovarian  disorders 

— 

21 

21 

— 

95 

95 

Puberty 

3 

18 

21 

3 

30 

33 

Change  of  life 

— 

88 

88 

— 

138 

138 

Fevers 

9 

10 

19 

26 

20 

46 

Privation  and  starvation  

9 

35 

44 

55 

114 

169 

Old  age 

98 

114 

212 

65 

78 

143 

Other  bodily  diseases  or  disorders  ... 

142 

139 

281 

352 

416 

768 

Previous  attacks  

— 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

Hereditary  influence  ascertained  ... 













Congenital  defect  ascertained 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Other  ascertained  causes  

27 

25 

52 

127 

32 

159 

Unknown  

— 

— 

— 

— 

* These  “causes”  are  not  taken  from  the  “ statements  ” in  the  papers  of  admission 
the  asylums. 

f With  reference  to  the  above  distinction  between  “predisposing”  and  “exciting  " 
any  individual  case. 

+ These  totals  represent  the  entire  number  of  instances  in  which  the  several  causes 
mental  disorder.  The  aggregate  of  these  totals  (including  “ unknown  of  course, 


THE  COMMISSIONERS  IN  LUNACY. 


IN  THE  CASES  OP  ALL  PATIENTS  ADMITTED  INTO  COUNTY  AND 

Hospitals,  State  Asylums,  and  Licensed  Houses  in  England  and 


13,581,  being  6,663  of  the  male,  and  6,918  of  the  female  sex.] 


in  which  each  cause  was  assigned. 


Proportion  (per  cent.)  to 


As  predisposing  or 
exciting  cause  (where 
these  could  not  be 
distinguished.)  f 

Total.]; 

the  total  number  of 

patients  admitted  during 
the  year. 

M. 

F. 

T. 

M. 

F. 

T. 

M. 

F. 

T. 

66 

82 

148 

282 

714 

996 

4-2 

10-3 

7*3 

96 

32 

128 

615 

282 

897 

9-2 

4-0 

6-6 

84 

54 

138 

396 

374 

770 

5-9 

5-4 

56 

35 

33 

68 

196 

235 

431 

2-9 

3 4 

31 

6 

27 

33 

49 

171 

220 

•7 

2-4 

1-6 

18 

21 

39 

59 

122 

181 

•9 

1-7 

1*3 

269 

74 

343 

1,308 

471 

1,779 

19-6 

6-8 

13-1 

18 

9 

27 

85 

48 

133 

1-2 

•7 

1*0 

10 

5 

15 

38 

14 

52 

•6 

•2 

•4 

25 

1 

26 

120 

8 

128 

1-8 

•1 

•9 

8 

1 

9 

46 

35 

81 

•7 

•5 

'6 

28 

1 

29 

159 

10 

169 

2*4 

•1 

1-2 

101 

13 

114 

365 

68 

433 

5-5 

1-0 

3*2 

— 

7 

7 

— 

55 

55 

— 

•8 

•4 

— 

79 

79 

— 

456 

456 

— 

6-6 

3*3 

— 

10 

10 

— 

157 

157 

— 

2-3 

1-1 

— 

16 

16 

— 

132 

132 

— 

1-9 

1-0 

9 

8 

17 

15 

56 

71 

•2 

•8 

•5 



48 

48 

— 

274 

274 

— 

3-9 

20 

7 

8 

15 

42 

38 

80 

•6 

•5 

•6 

26 

27 

53 

90 

176 

266 

1*3 

2*5 

1-9 

86 

108 

194 

249 

300 

549 

37 

4-3 

4-0 

255 

208 

463 

749 

763 

1,512 

11*2 

110 

11-1 

- 

- 

- 

878 

1,273 

2,151 

13-2 

18*4 

15-8 







1,239 

1,506 

2,745 

18-6 

21-8 

20-2 

— 

— 

— 

363 

229 

592 

5-4 

3-3 

4-3 

50 

34 

84 

204 

91 

295 

3-0 

1'3 

2-1 

— 

— 

1,417 

1,441 

2,858 

21*3 

20-8 

21-0 

of  the  patients,  hut  are  those  which  have  been  verified  by  the  Medical  Officers  of 


causes,  it  must  be  understood  that  no  single  cause  is  enumerated  more  than  once  in 


(either  alone  or  in  combination  with  other  causes)  were  stated  to  have  produced  the 
exceeds  the  whole  number  of  patients  admitted ; the  excess  is  owing  to  the  combinations. 


462 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


TABLE  XXIII. — Showing  the  Assigned  Causes  of  Insanity  in 
Registered  Hospitals,  Naval  and  Military  Hospitals,  State 
THE  YEAR  1882,  ARRANGED  ACCORDING  TO  THE  CLASS  OF  THE 


Number  of  instances  in  which 

Causes  of  insanity. 

Private. 

The  total  number  admitted 
was  2,212. 

(1,134  males  and  1,078  females.) 

M. 

F. 

T. 

Moral. 

Domestic  trouble  (including  loss  of  relatives  and 

friends)  

Adverse  circumstances  (including  business  anxieties 

57 

123 

180 

and  pecuniary  difficulties)  

Mental  anxiety  and  “worry"  (not  included  under 

123 

40 

163 

the  above  two  heads) ; and  overwork 

152 

94 

246 

Religious  excitement 

19 

53 

72 

Love  affairs  (including  seduction) 

13 

43 

56 

Fright  and  nervous  shock  

7 

30 

37 

Physical. 

Intemperance,  in  drink  

198 

73 

271 

„ sexual 

27 

2 

29 

Venereal  disease  

15 

1 

16 

Self-abuse  (sexual)  

29 

4 

33 

Over-exertion  

11 

4 

15 

Sunstroke  

29 

1 

30 

Accident  or  injury  

40 

13 

53 

Pregnancy  

— 

9 

9 

Parturition  and  the  puerperal  state 

— 

66 

66 

Lactation 

— 

11 

11 

Uterine  and  ovarian  disorders  

— 

49 

49 

Puberty 

3 

8 

11 

Change  of  life 

— 

58 

58 

Fevers  

17 

10 

27 

Privation  and  starvation  

1 

— 

1 

Old  age 

31 

35 

66 

Other  bodily  diseases  or  disorders  

102 

105 

207 

Previous  attacks  

146 

194 

340 

Hereditary  influence  ascertained  

214 

236 

450 

Congenital  defect  ascertained  

77 

53 

130 

Other  ascertained  causes  

97 

22 

119 

Unknown  

170 

157 

327 

APPENDIX, 


463 


the  Patients  admitted  into  County  and  Borough  Asylums, 
Asylums,  and  Licensed  Houses  in  England  and  Wales,  during 
Patients. 


each  cause  was  assigned. 


Proportion  (per  cent.)  to  the  total  number  of 
patients  in  each  class  admitted  during  1882. 


Pauper. 

The  total  number  admitted 
was  11,369. 

(5,529  males  and  6,840 
females.) 

Private. 

Pauper. 

M. 

F. 

T. 

M. 

F. 

T. 

M. 

F. 

T. 

225 

591 

816 

5-0 

11*4 

8-1 

4-0 

10-1 

7-1 

492 

242 

734 

10-8 

3-7 

7-3 

8-9 

4-1 

6'4 

244 

280 

524 

13-4 

8-7 

11-1 

4-4 

4-8 

4-6 

177 

182 

359 

1-6 

4-9 

3-2 

32 

31 

3-1 

36 

128 

164 

1-1 

3-9 

25 

•6 

22 

1-4 

52 

92 

144 

*6 

2-8 

1-6 

•9 

1-6 

1-2 

1,110 

398 

1,508 

17-4 

6-7 

12-2 

20-0 

6-8 

13-2 

58 

46 

104 

2*4 

•2 

1-3 

1-0 

•8 

•9 

23 

13 

36 

1-3 

•1 

•7 

•4 

•2 

•3 

91 

4 

95 

2-5 

•3 

1*5 

1-6 

— 

•8 

35 

31 

66 

•9 

•3 

•7 

•6 

•5 

•6 

130 

9 

139 

2-5 

*1 

1-3 

2-3 

•1 

1-2 

325 

55 

380 

35 

1-2 

2*4 

5-8 

*9 

3*3 

— 

46 

46 

— 

•8 

•4 

— 

*8 

•4 

— 

390 

390 

— 

61 

2-9 

— 

6-6 

34 

— 

146 

146 

— 

1-0 

•5 

— 

2-5 

1-3 

— 

83 

83 

— 

4-5 

2*2 

— 

1-4 

•7 

12 

48 

60 

•2 

•7 

•5 

•2 

•8 

•5 

— 

216 

216 

— 

5-3 

26 

— 

3-7 

1-9 

25 

28 

53 

1-5 

•9 

1-2 

•4 

•4 

•4 

89 

176 

265 

•1 

— 

— 

1-6 

30 

2’3 

218 

265 

483 

2-7 

32 

2-9 

39 

4-5 

4-2 

647 

658 

1,305 

8‘9 

9-7 

93 

11-7 

11-2 

11-4 

732 

1,079 

1,811 

12-8 

17-9 

153 

13-2 

18-4 

15-9 

1,025 

1,270 

2,295 

18-9 

21-8 

20-3 

18-5 

21-7 

202 

286 

176 

462 

6-8 

4-9 

5-9 

52 

3-0 

40 

107 

69 

176 

8*5 

2-0 

5-4 

1-9 

1-1 

1-5 

1,247 

1,284 

2,531 

14*9 

145 

14-8 

22*5 

22-0 

222 

464 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


TABLE  XXIV. — Showing  the  Assigned  Causes  of  Insanity  in 

THE  CASES  OF  THE  GENERAL  PARALYTICS  ADMITTED  INTO  COUNTY 

and  Borough  Asylums,  Registered  Hospitals,  Nayal  and 
Military  Hospitals,  State  Asylums,  and  Licensed  Houses  in- 
England  and  Wales,  during  the  year  1S82.* 

[The  total  number  of  these  admissions  was  1,151,  being  923  of  the 
male,  and  228  of  the  female  sex.] 


Causes  of  insanity. 

Number  of  instances 
in  which  each 
cause  was  assigned. 

Proportion  (per  cent.) 
to  the  total  number 
of  general  paralytics 
admitted. 

M. 

F. 

T. 

M. 

F. 

T. 

Moral. 

Domestic  trouble  (including  loss  of 

relatives  and  friends)  

35 

22 

57 

3-8 

9-6 

4*9 

Adverse  circumstances  (including 
business  anxieties  and  pecuni- 

ary  difficulties) 

126 

15 

141 

13-6 

65 

122 

Mental  anxiety  and  “worry”  (not 
included  under  the  above  two 

heads) ; and  overwork 

65 

3 

63 

7-0 

1-3 

59 

Religious  excitement 

10 

1 

11 

1-1 

•4 

•9 

Love  affairs  (including  seduction)  ... 

3 

2 

5 

•3 

•9 

•4 

Fright  and  nervous  shock  

3 

— 

3 

•3 

— 

•2 

Physical. 

Intemperance,  in  drink  

234 

30 

264 

253 

13*1 

22-9 

,,  sexual  

V enereal  disease  

28 

7 

35 

30 

30 

30 

9 

4 

13 

1-0 

1-7 

1*1 

Self-abuse  (sexual)  

3 

— 

3 

•3 

— 

*2 

Over-exertion  ... 

14 

— 

14 

1-5 

— 

1-2 

Sunstroke  

32 

1 

33 

35 

•4 

2-3 

Accident  or  injury 

71 

3 

74 

7*7 

1*3 

6-4 

Pregnancy  

— 

4 

4 

— 

1-7 

•3 

Parturition  and  the  puerperal  state 

— 

13 

13 

— 

5-7 

11 

Lactation  

— 

4 

4 

— 

1*7 

•3 

Uterine  and  ovarian  disorders 



2 

2 



•9 

•2 

Puberty 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Change  of  life 

— 

6 

6 

— 

2-6 

•5 

Fevers 

2 

— 

2 

•2 

— 

•2 

Privation  and  starvation 

18 

7 

25 

1-9 

30 

2-1 

Old  age  

3 

5 

8 

•3 

2-2 

•7 

Other  bodily  diseases  or  disorders  ... 

115 

35 

150 

12-4 

15-3 

13-0 

Previous  attacks  

63 

18 

81 

6*8 

7'8 

70 

Hereditary  influence  ascertained  . . . 

161 

42 

203 

17*4 

18-4 

17*6 

Congenital  defect  ascertained 

1 

1 

2 

•1 

*1 

•2 

Other  ascertained  causes  

9 

2 

11 

1-0 

•9 

*9 

Unknown  

242 

75 

317 

26*2 

32-9 

27*5 

* This  table  may  be  compared  with  Table  XXII.,  which  shows  the  Causes  of  In- 
sanity in  the  cases  of  all  the  patients  admitted  during  1382. 


APPENDIX. 


465 


TABLE  XXV. — Showing  the  Assigned  Causes  of  Insanity  in  the 

CASES  OF  THE  PATIENTS  WITH  SlUCIDAL  PROPENSITY  WHO  WERE 
ADMITTED  INTO  COUNTY  AND  BOROUGH  ASYLUMS,  REGISTERED 

Hospitals,  Naval  and  Military  Hospitals,  State  Asylums, 
and  Licensed  Houses  in  England  and  Wales,  during  the 
year  1882.* 


[The  total  number  of  these  admissions  was  3,877,  being  1,785  of  the 
male,  and  2,092  of  the  female  sex.] 


Causes  of  insanity. 

Number  of  instances 
in  which  each 
cause  was  assigned. 

Proportion  (percent.) 
to  the  total  number 
of  patients  admitted 
with  suicidal 
propensity. 

M. 

F. 

T. 

M. 

F. 

T. 

Moral. 

Domestic  trouble  (including  loss  of 

relatives  and  friends) 

110 

269 

379 

6T 

12*8 

9-7 

Adverse  circumstances  (including 
business  anxieties  and  pecuni- 

ary  difficulties)  

121 

104 

225 

6-7 

4*9 

6 0 

Mental  anxiety  and  “worry”  (not 
included  under  the  above  two 

heads') ; and  overwork 

138 

153 

291 

7-7 

7-3 

7*5 

Religious  excitement ... 

63 

79 

142 

35 

3-8 

36 

Love  affairs  (including  seduction)  ... 

16 

60 

76 

•9 

2-9 

1*9 

Fright  and  nervous  shock  

17 

40 

57 

•9 

1-9 

1-4 

Physical. 

Intemperance,  in  drink 

340 

130 

470 

19-0 

6*2 

12-1 

„ sexual  

15 

6 

21 

•8 

•3 

•5 

Venereal  disease  

9 

5 

14 

•5 

•2 

•3 

Self-abuse  (sexual)  

37 

3 

40 

20 

•1 

1*0 

Over-exertion 

10 

10 

20 

•6 

•5 

•5 

Sunstroke  

26 

2 

28 

1-4 

•1 

•7 

Accident  or  injury  

100 

25 

125 

5-6 

1*2 

3*2 

Pregnancy  

— 

15 

15 



•7 

•4 

Parturition  and  the  puerperal  state 

— 

147 

147 



7-0 

3-8 

Lactation  

— 

66 

66 



31 

1*7 

Uterine  and  ovarian  disorders 



54 

54 

2-6 

1-4 

Puberty 

7 

12 

19 

•4 

•6 

•5 

Change  of  life 

— 

112 

112 



5-3 

2-9 

Fevers  

10 

7 

17 

•6 

•3 

•4 

Privation  and  starvation 

29 

54 

83 

1-6 

2-6 

2-1 

Old  age 

61 

60 

121 

3-4 

2-9 

3-1 

Other  bodily  diseases  or  disorders  ... 

210 

226 

436 

11-8 

10-8 

11-2 

Previous  attacks  

248 

368 

616 

13-9 

17-6 

15-8 

Hereditary  influence  ascertained  ... 

385 

502 

887 

21-6 

24-0 

22-8 

Congenital  defect  ascertained 

53 

38 

91 

2-9 

1-8 

2 3 

Other  ascertained  causes  

39 

22 

61 

2-2 

10 

1-6 

Unknown  

344 

387 

731 

19-2 

18-5 

18-8 

* This  table  may  be  compared  with  Table  XXII.,  which  shows  the  Causes  of 
Insanity  in  the  cases  of  all  the  patients  admitted  during  1882. 

2 H 


TABLE  XXVIII.  — Showing  the  Number  of  Patients  with  Suicidal  Propensity  who  were  admitted  into 


466 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


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§6 


Local  Option,  Prohibition  and  Compensation. 


The  Alliance  News  for  June  28, 1879,  had  the  following 
leader  on 

“ The  Eights  of  Sober  Men. 

“ We  hear  and  read  a good  deal  about  the  rights  of  drinkers. 
We  are  told,  indeed,  by  the  Times  that  no  man  now  defends 
drunkenness.  Perhaps  not.  Thousands,  however,  excuse  it,  and 
millions  practise  it.  Men  affirm  that  they  will  not  have  Maine 
Laws,  Permissive  Bills,  Local  Option,  or  anything  of  the  sort. 
They  stand  upon  what  they  call  their  rights.  Now,  let  it  be  under- 
stood that  no  civilized  people  permit  any  man  absolute  freedom  of 
speech  and  action.  We  are  all  under  law.  Our  freedom  is  not 
without  bounds.  There  are  legal  and  moral  barriers  around  us. 
All  true  life  has  limitations.  Unlimited  liberty  means  fire, 
slaughter,  confusion,  and  misery. 

“ For  any  man,  therefore,  to  argue  about  his  rights,  and  especially 
about  his  right  to  make,  sell,  buy,  give,  and  consume  strong  drink, 
as  though  he  was  alone  to  be  consulted,  is  the  height  of  selfish 
folly.  Is  he  not  a member  of  a community  ? Do  not  his  actions 
affect  others  ? Does  not  his  drink  introduce  an  element  of  danger 
into  society  ? And  if  this  is  the  case,  may  not  his  right  become 
obsolete  ? May  its  exercise  not  become  a great  wrong  ? This  is 
what  we  contend. 

“ Let  us  illustrate  the  position.  We  write  this  in  a metropolitan 
parish  of  vast  extent,  and  we  have  to  pay  its  rates.  Let  us  look  at 
them.  For  the  relief  of  the  poor  the  rates  amount  to  £51,500. 
Now,  the  parish  swarms  with  public-houses,  and  their  victims  fill 
the  workhouse.  The  more  people  drink,  the  more  rates  we  have  to 
pay.  Have  we,  then,  no  rights  in  this  matter?  If  a public-house, 
through  the  pauperism  which  it  produces  and  perpetuates,  takes 
money  out  of  our  purse  from  year  to  year,  are  we  not  to  have  the 
power  of  saying  whether  we  will  have  the  public-house  there  ? Are 
the  rights  of  the  selfish  drinker  supreme?  And  have  we  none? 

“ Let  us  look  at  another  item.  The  police  costs  the  parish 
£13,788.  That  is  a heavy  item.  But  what  makes  it  so?  Un- 
doubtedly it  is  intemperance,  and  that  boozing  which  makes  men 
quarrelsome  and  criminal.  The  sober  man  never  takes  three  or 
four  policeman  to  carry  him  to  a cell  and  arraign  him  before  a 
magistrate.  It  is  the  alleged  right  to  drink  that  swells  the  police 
rate.  Must  we,  then,  pay  an  army  of  blue-coated  men  to  keep  in 


468 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


order  those  curious  people  who  seem  to  think  that  their  right  to 
drink  must  not  be  challenged?  Must  we  pay  £13,788  for  police, 
and  see  the  force  chiefly  engaged  with  the  victims  of  public-houses, 
and  go  on  paying  world  without  end  ? Have  we  no  rights  in  this 
matter?  We  hold  that  we  have,  and  we  shall  take  care  to  claim 
them  to  the  uttermost. 

“Then  there  is  the  school  board.  It  costs  us  £22,618.  We  do 
not  object  to  the  education  of  the  poor  man’s  child,  but  has  the  poor 
man  a right  to  spend  money  upon  beer,  and  then  tax  us  to  educate 
his  child  ? Have  we  no  rights  in  that  case  as  to  his  beer  ? Has  he 
and  he  alone  rights  in  reference  to  beer,  and  we  none  as  to  the  tax 
which  his  beer  imposes  upon  us  in  reference  to  his  child  ? 

“ This  popular  belief  in  the  drinker’s  rights  is  a mistake.  A 
community  has  a right  to  suppress  anything  which  makes  men  bad 
citizens,  and  this  is  the  case  with  the  traffic  in  strong  drink.  Let 
the  sober  men  therefore  look  after  their  right  in  relation  to  it,  and 
put  the  traffic  down.” 


From  the  Alliance  News,  February  9,  1884  : — 

“ The  Law  of  the  Transfer  of  Licences. 

“ No  Landlord’s  Property  in  the  Licence. 

“ In  the  Queen’s  Bench  Division,  January  31  (Sittings  in  Banco 
in  the  Lord  Chief  Justice’s  Court,  before  Baron  Pollock  and  Mr. 
Justice  Lopes),  an  important  case  was  tried — that  of  The  Queen  v. 
The  Justices  of  Derby.  This  was  a public-house  licence  case,  which 
raised  and  decided  the  point  that  on  an  application  for  the  transfer 
of  a licence  the  magistrates  have  an  absolute  discretion  to  grant  it 
or  refuse  it,  and  may  refuse  it  on  the  ground  that  in  their  opinion 
there  is  no  necessity  for  another  public-house  in  the  parish, 
and  that,  even,  although  the  house  is  an  old  one.  The  question 
had  arisen  in  the  present  case  amidst  these  circumstances.  The 
house,  which  was  in  the  Market-place,  Derby,  was  an  old  one,  and 
it  was  stated  that  it  had  been  occupied  fora  hundred  years  by  wine 
merchants  with  a full  public-house  licence.  In  1865  it  was  let  to 
two  persons  named  Cox  and  Bowring  on  a fourteen  years’  lease  ex- 
piring on  the  first  of  July,  1879.  At  the  annual  licensing  meeting 
in  1876  Cox  and  Bowring  obtained  a new  licence  for  new  premises 
they  had  built  in  Irongate,  and  this  was  renewed  at  the  annual 
meeting  in  1877,  the  justices  then  refusing  to  renew  the  licence  to 
the  Market-place  premises,  from  which  in  June,  1877,  Cox  and 
Bowring  had  removed  their  business.  They  did  not  give  up  posses- 
sion to  the  owners  until  the  expiration  of  the  lease  in  July,  1879, 
and  the  premises  remained  unlicensed  after  October  15,  1877,  till 
the  present  time.  Miunitt,  the  applicant,  took  the  premises  from 
the  owners  in  1879,  and  applied  at  the  annual  licensing  meetings  in 


APPENDIX. 


469 


1879,  1880,  1881,  and  1882,  for  a new  licence,  which  was  always 
refused.  In  consequence  of  the  decision  in  The  Queen  v.  The 
Justices  of  Liverpool  in  the  Court  of  Appeal  in  July  last,  application 
was  made  at  a special  sessions  for  a transfer  licence  under  section  14 
of  the  Act  of  1828.  This  was  refused,  and  the  Quarter  Sessions  on 
appeal  confirmed  the  refusal,  assuming  to  do  so  as  a matter  of  dis- 
cretion. It  was  admitted  that  the  applicant  was  a ‘ fit  and  proper 
person,’  and  that  there  was  no  charge  against  him. 

“ Mr.  Etherington  Smith  now  moved,  on  behalf  of  the  owner 
and  new  tenant,  for  a mandamus  to  the  magistrates.  He  urged 
that  in  the  case  of  a transfer  of  a licence,  especially  in  the  case  of  an 
old  house,  there  was  a kind  of  ‘vested  interest’  in  the  owner,  and 
that  there  was  not  such  an  absolute  discretion  to  grant  or  refuse  a 
licence  as  in  the  case  of  a new  licence.  A new  licence  meant,  he 
submitted,  a licence  to  a house  which  had  not  been  licensed  before, 
and  where  the  new  tenant  was  a ‘ fit  and  proper  person,’  and  there 
was  no  charge  against  him,  the  licence  ought  to  be  transferred, 
otherwise  an  outgoing  tenant,  giving  up  possession  for  a year,  might 
lose  the  licence  and  seriously  injure  his  landlord’s  property. 

“ Mr.  Baron  Pollock  here  asked  on  what  ground  did  the  magis- 
trates refuse  the  transfer  of  the  licence  ? Mr.  E.  Smith  replied  : 

‘ It  is  believed  that  it  was  because  they  considered  there  were 
public-houses  enough  in  the  parish  without  this ; that  is,  in  the 
exercise  of  a general  and  absolute  discretion.’ 

“ Mr.  Justice  Lopes  cited  a text-book,  in  which  it  was  said  : ‘ In 
all  cases  of  transfers  of  licences  the  discretion  of  the  justices  is 
absolute,’  adding  that  he  was  disposed  to  agree  in  that  view  and 
thought  it  to  be  right.  There  certainly  was  a decision  to  that 
effect  before  the  Act  of  1872,  but  that  is  not  now  in  point,  and 
under  the  law  as  it  stands  there  is  not  an  absolute  discretion  to  refuse 
the  transfer  of  a licence  to  an  old  house. 

“ Mr.  Baron  Pollock  said  he  should  be  sorry  to  lay  down  any 
rule  which  would  limit  the  discretion  of  the  justices  further  than  it 
had  been  limited  by  the  Legislature,  but  he  should  be  still  more 
sorry  to  give  any  ground  for  the  belief  that  a licence  in  such  a case 
was  a kind  of  property  in  the  landlord.  It  might  be  so  virtually  in 
some  cases,  and  reasonably  so,  but  that  view  must  not  be  carried  too 
far  : and  the  notion  that  there  was  a property  in  the  landlord  in  the 
licence  could  not  be  considered  as  sound  law.  The  only  question 
was  whether  the  magistrates  had  a discretion,  and  the  case  referred 
to  seemed  to  be  in  point  to  show  that  they  had. 

“ Mr.  Justice  Lopes  concurred,  and  held  that  in  cases  of  transfer 
of  licences  the  discretion  of  the  magistrates  is  to  be  absolute.  The 
application  was  therefore  refused. 

“ Commenting  on  the  case  the  Manchester  Examiner  says : — 
‘ The  contention  was,  in  substance,  that  when  “ a fit  and  proper 
person  ” was  proffered  as  a tenant  of  an  old  licensed  house,  the 


470 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


magistrates  were  bound  to  accept  him,  and  had  no  right  to  consider 
whether  there  were  enough  or  too  many  public-houses  in  the 
district.  It  was  on  this  question  that  the  importance  of  the  judg- 
ment became  most  evident.  Mr.  Baron  Pollock  said  he  should  be 
sorry  to  give  any  ground  for  the  belief  that  a licence  in  such  a case 
was  a property  in  the  landlord  The  notion  that  there  was  a pro- 
perty of  the  landlord  in  the  licence,  he  said,  could  not  be  considered 
as  sound  law.  Both  judges,  in  dismissing  the  appeal,  affirmed  the 
absolute  right  of  the  magistrates  to  say  yea  or  nay  to  applications 
for  transfers  as  they  thought  fit,  and  as  the  result  of  a reasonable 
consideration  of  the  wants  of  the  neighbourhood.’  ” 


From  the  Alliance  News,  November  24,  1883  : — 

“ Me.  William  Fowler,  M.P.,  and  Mr.  J.  A.  Partridge  on  the 
Liquor  Question. 

“ In  the  course  of  a capital  lecture  delivered  at  the  Devonshire 
Booms,  Cambridge,  on  Wednesday  week,  Mr.  W.  Fowler,  M.P., 
presiding,  Mr.  J.  A.  Partridge,  of  Oxford,  said  drunkenness  hinders 
the  development  of  the  manhood  of  the  nation  and  mars  its  pro- 
sperity. Drunkenness  is  the  voluntary  principle  applied  to  taxation 
by  sots  and  fools.  Why  should  the  honest  working  man  carry 
a drink-made  pauper  on  his  back  ? But  he  does  if  he  pays  taxes. 
‘ One  touch  of  the  tax-gatherer  makes  the  whole  world  akin.’ 
It  is  said,  aud  with  truth,  that  the  people  can’t  get  on  the  land; 
but  drunkenness  keeps  them  off,  as  well  as  bad  Land  laws. 
Suppose  there  are  eighty  millions  of  acres  in  the  United  Kingdom 
and  Ireland,  and  that  we  saved  sixty  millions  sterling  yearly 
out  of  a hundred  and  thirty  millions  drink  bill,  aud  that  good 
land  can  be  bought  for  £60  per  acre.  In  ten  years  the  people 
might  buy  up  ten  millions  of  acres,  or  one-eighth  part  of  all 
our  land.  Of  this,  I understand,  the  thrift  and  energy  of  Cambridge 
men  has  shown  a good  example.  Take  another  instance  as  to  trade. 
With  a hundred  and  thirty  millions  sterling  you  might  start  twenty- 
six  thousand  trades — business  enterprises — with  £5000  capital  for 
each,  employing  a hundred  pair  of  hands,  turning  out  £20,000  a 
year  in  goods,  and  paying  wages  £100  a week  each.  That  would,  in 
the  whole  country,  employ  2,600,000  men,  and  make  £52,000,000 
worth  of  goods.  Mr.  William  Fowler,  M.P.,  said  he  agreed  that  the 
question  of  drunkenness  wanted  dealing  with,  and  that  the  great 
question  of  the  drink  ought  to  be  grappled  with.  How  it  was  to  be 
dealt  with  was  a most  important  and  very  difficult  question.  He 
knew  that  some  members  of  Parliament  voted  for  Local  Option 
who  did  not  believe  in  it.  He  voted  for  it  because  he  did  believe 
in  it — though  not,  perhaps,  altogether  in  its  application  as  Sir 
Wilfrid  Lawson  would  apply  it.  He  was  for  removing  the 


APPENDIX. 


471 


licensing  power  from  the  hands  of  the  great  unpaid,  of  whom  he 
was  one  ; but,  whether  it  was  to  be  done  by  a special  board  or  by 
the  town  councils  was  a question  to  be  decided.  He  was  not  very 
much  in  favour  of  licensing  systems  of  any  kind.  From  what  he 
had  observed  in  America  and  England,  he  had  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  system  was  the  cause  of  so  much  trouble  and  misery, 
that  it  was  almost,  if  not  quite,  impossible  to  mend  it.  There  had 
been  a good  deal  of  stir  lately  about  the  condition  of  dwellings  in 
London  ; but  he  thought  he  had  seen  in  the  country  cottage  property 
quite  as  bad  as  any  that  could  be  found  in  London.  He  did  not 
know  any  greater  disgrace  to  the  country  than  some  of  the  cottage 
property.  They  would  never  mend  this  state  of  things  till  the  mind 
of  the  people  of  England  was  moved  on  the  subject.  The  remedy 
laid  very  much  in  the  hands  of  the  people  themselves.  As  soon  as 
they  reformed  their  habits  they  would  refuse’  to  live  in  such 
places.” 


From  the  Alliance  News,  July  31,  1880 : — 
“Compensation  to  Publicans. 

“ One  of  the  most  striking  features  in  connection  with  the  dis- 
cussion of  matters  relating  to  temperance  legislation  is  the  prominence 
given  to  the  question  of  compensation.  It  is  rarely  that  any  of  our 
public  men  refer  to  the  question  without  distinctly  acknowledging 
the  right  of  the  publicans  to  compensation  in  the  event  of  their 
trade  being  disturbed  by  adverse  legislation.  It  is  rather  matter 
for  congratulation  than  otherwise  that  this  question  of  compensation 
is  being  pushed  so  much  to  the  front,  because  when  one  of  two 
belligerents  commences  negotiations  as  to  the  terms  of  peace,  it  is  a 
good  sign  that  hostilities  will  soon  cease.  Hence  prohibitionists 
regard  with  some  satisfaction  this  cry  for  compensation,  taking  it 
as  a ‘ sign  of  the  times  ’ that  the  ‘ beginning  of  the  end  ’ of  the 
struggle  with  the  traffic  is  already  present  with  us. 

“ It  is  observable,  however,  that  we  have  never  yet  had  any 
specific  statement  of  the  claim  to  be  put  forward  on  behalf  of  the 
liquor  men.  It  is  dealt  with  in  vague  generalities,  such  as  that 
‘ there  ought  to  be  fair  and  just  compensation  paid  to  those  who  are 
engaged  in  a legal  business  if  it  is  suppressed ; ” but  we  are  never 
told  what  would  be  ‘ fair  and  just  compensation.’  Without  asking 
our  opponents  to  give  us  a fully  worked  out  plan,  we  do  think  it 
would  materially  assist  the  discussion  if  we  had  a distinct  definition 
of  the  principles. 

“Now,  in  the  case  before  us  there  is  no  property  taken — not  a 
single  brick  or  stone  is  removed  ; the  barrels  and  buttles  are  left 
where  they  are  ; the  furniture,  the  glasses,  and  the  drink  are  left  in 
the  man’s  possession.  He  can  do  what  he  chooses  with  them,  they 


472 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


are  his  to  keep  or  sell — except  the  drink,  which  he  may  not  sell ; 
he  is  at  liberty  to  put  them  to  some  other  use,  and  to  invest  his 
capital  in  some  other  undertaking.  All  that  the  prohibitory  law 
would  do  would  he  to  prevent  him  from  using  his  property  for  a 
particular  purpose.  Few  people  will  care  to  contend  that  the  State 
has  no  right  to  determine  the  uses  to  which  a man  may  apply  his 
property.  That  is  a thing  which  the  State  does  continually,  to  the 
great  benefit  of  the  people  at  large.  Clearly,  then,  as  no  property  is 
‘ confiscated,’  but  all  is  left  with  its  real  owners,  the  case  does  not 
belong  to  that  class  to  which  the  rule  we  have  just  laid  down  can 
he  applied. 

“ But  other  ground  is  taken  up,  another  position  is  assumed, 
which  we  will  endeavour  to  state  as  clearly  as  possible.  It  is  (1) 
1 That  the  State  having  recognized  the  legality  of  the  trade,  by 
giving  it  the  sanction  and  protection  of  the  law,  cannot  change  its 
policy  in  regard  to  it  without  providing  against  loss  to  those  whom 
such  legislation  has  induced  to  enter  into  the  trade.’  (2)  That 
while  licences  are  granted  for  one  year  only,  there  is  a moral  under- 
standing, strengthened  by  universal  practice,  that  the  licence  shall 
be  renewed  if  the  licence-holder  has  not  been  convicted  of  an  offence 
against  the  law.  These  two  propositions  contain  everything  of 
importance  which  has  been  urged  in  favour  of  compensation.  The 
first  of  them  seems  to  imply  that  if  a trade  is  legal  those  engaged 
in  it  are  entitled  to  compensation  in  the  event  of  its  being  suppressed. 
Now,  all  trades  are  legal  which  the  law  does  not  prohibit.  It  does 
not  require  an  Act  of  Parliament  to  say  that  the  trade  in  a certain 
article  is  legal.  The  absence  of  legal  restraint  is  all  that  is  required 
in  order  to  establish  its  legality.  The  point  to  be  kept  in  mind  is 
this,  that  special  legislation  does  not  make  a trade  legal,  such  legis- 
lation being  usually  undertaken  for  the  purpose  of  restriction  rather 
than  that  of  giving  or  assuring  liberty.  If,  for  instance,  slavery 
were  permitted  in  our  country,  and  the  buying  and  selling  of  men 
and  women  were  not  prohibited  by  law,  if  there  were  no  laws  what- 
ever bearing  upon  such  traffic,  then  it  would  be  perfectly  legal. 
But  supposing  the  Government,  for  purposes  of  revenue,  or  the 
prevention  of  abuses,  gave  orders  that  no  person  should  be  allowed 
to  buy  and  sell  slaves  except  those  who  first  obtained  a licence 
from  the  State  official,  would  the  trade  be  any  the  more  legal  on 
that  account  ? Not  in  the  least.  So  far  as  it  was  allowed  it  would 
be  legal,  just  as  it  was  before,  but  no  more  and  no  less.  We  claim, 
then,  that  so  far  as  legality  is  concerned  the  position  of  the  liquor 
traffic  is  no  better  when  conducted  under  licence  than  if  it  were 
free.  It  may  be  dealt  with  in  the  same  way  and  upon  the  same 
terms  as  any  of  the  ordinary  trades  with  which  Government  sees 
fit  to  interfere.  This  is  a point  of  no  little  importance  to  our 
argument,  for  we  go  on  to  point  out  that  the  State  has  the  right 
to  restrict  or  suppress  any  trade  in  the  interests  of  the  public 


APPENDIX. 


473 


without  having  regard  to  the  effect  upon  the  pecuniary  interests 
of  those  concerned.  Nor  does  the  State  lose  any  of  its  rights 
by  continuing  a certain  policy  for  any  length  of  time.  It  is 
always  competent  to  change  its  policy  in  any  direction  which  the 
public  good  demands,  and  at  any  time  the  public  voice  decides 
through  its  constitutional  organs.  It  is,  however,  alleged  further 
that  this  special  legislation  has  induced  men  to  invest  their  capital 
in  the  belief  that  State  policy  would  remain  the  same.  In  other 
words,  they  went  in  for  the  great  gains  which  a valuable  monopoly 
ensured,  and  now  they  are  met  with  the  great  risks  which  always 
accompany  great  gains,  they  lay  the  blame  upon  other  shoulders, 
and  ask  that  they  shall  be  compensated  because  they  may  not  con- 
tinue to  buy,  sell,  and  get  gain  in  that  particular  way.  They  are 
simply  speculators  whose  calculations  have  turned  out  wrong,  and 
who  therefore  may  claim  the  nation’s  pity,  but  not  the  nation’s 
money. 

“ The  history  of  liquor  traffic  legislation  throws  a light  upon 
this  subject,  which  does  not  lend  much  colour  to  the  publican’s 
claim,  but  rather  helps  to  show  its  hollowness.  Let  us  look  at 
some  of  the  facts  which  history  reveals,  taking  those  which  have 
the  most  direct  bearing  upon  the  subject  under  consideration.  In 
1487  an  Act  was  passed  empowering  magistrates  to  suppress  the 
liquor  traffic  wherever  they  thought  lit,  thus  giving  the  magistracy 
a prohibitory  power,  but  no  provision  was  made  for  compensating 
those  who  were  suppressed.  In  1552  all  taverns  were  suppressed 
by  Act  of  Parliament,  with  the  exception  of  forty  in  London,  three 
in  Westminster,  eight  in  York,  six  in  Bristol,  and  in  every  other 
town  two.  The  first  of  these  Acts  was  a permissive  prohibitory 
one,  providing  for  prohibition  by  ‘local  option  ;’  but  the  latter  was 
almost  entire  prohibition  by  imperial  enactment,  and  the  exercise 
of  the  power  was  not  trammelled  by  considerations  as  to  compensa- 
tion. At  a time  when  precedents  are  so  much  sought  after  and  so 
highly  valued  (and  the  older  they  are  the  more  valuable  they  seem 
to  be),  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  point  to  these  two  instances  of 
legislative  suppression  without  compensation.  But  to  come  to  a 
time  nearer  our  own,  we  will  notice  the  Beer  Bill  of  1830.  The 
Government  of  that  day,  impressed  with  the  state  of  the  country  as 
regarded  intemperance,  were  moved  to  attempt  something  in  the 
shape  of  a remedy,  and  carried  through  Parliament  the  Beer  Bill. 
The  effect  of  this  measure  was  the  establishment  of  a new  branch 
of  the  liquor  traffic  separate  and  distinct  from  that  already  in 
existence.  Licences  were  granted  to  all  and  sundry  who  chose  to 
fulfil  the  conditions  for  the  sale  of  beer.  We  need  not  stay  here  to 
consider  the  wisdom  or  folly  of  this  measure ; we  are  more  concerned 
with  the  effect  which  it  produced  upon  those  who  had  previously 
enjoyed  a complete  monopoly,  and  we  are  still  more  concerned  with 
the  motives  by  which  Parliament  was  actuated  and  the  object  it 


474 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


had  in  view.  Parliament  thought  that  by  the  establishment  of  a 
set  of  houses  for  the  sale  and  consumption  of  beer,  people  would  be 
weaned  from  spirits,  would  cease  to  patronize  the  licensed  victualler, 
and  take  their  money  to  the  beerhouse-keeper.  Here,  then,  we 
have  this  fact,  that  Parliament  passed  an  Act  which  admitted 
another  class  of  men  to  a share  in  the  liquor  monopoly  with  the 
distinct  purpose  of  damaging  the  interests  of  the  publicans.  Parlia- 
ment intended  that  it  should  be  so,  it  hoped  and  expected  that  it 
would  be  so,  and  it  did  that  deliberately  without  providing  for 
compensating  those  who  would  suffer.  The  publicans  felt  that  they 
were  not  being  fairly  dealt  with,  and  influenced  their  friends  in 
Parliament  (they  have  never  wanted  friends  there)  to  oppose  the 
measure,  which  was  done  both  in  the  Lords  and  Commons.  The 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  (Sir  H.  Goulbourne)  admitted  that 
“ diminution  of  the  present  value  of  their  capital  would  follow  the 
adoption  of  the  Bill,’  but  the  only  alternative  before  him  was  this — 
‘ would  he  lean  towards  the  supposed  interests  of  the  smaller  class 
or  towards  that  of  the  community  generally  ? This  being  so,  he 
could  not  hesitate  upon  the  decision  he  was  bound  to  take  under 
such  circumstances.’  This  was  a clear  and  bold  enunciation  of  the 
principle  we  are  endeavouring  to  laydown,  that  when  the  pecuniary 
interests  of  a class  come  in  contact  with  the  welfare  of  the  people 
generally  they  must  be  sacrificed.  In  the  end  the  publicans  had  to 
submit  to  a new  rivalry  which  might  work  upon  them  serious  loss, 
and  in  fact  was  intended  so  to  do. 

“ A more  direct  interference  was  that  of  the  Forbes  Mackenzie 
Act  for  closing  public-houses  in  Scotland  during  the  whole  of 
Sunday.  This  Act  took  away  about  one-twelfth  of  the  time  during 
which  Scotch  liquor-sellers  had  been  in  the  habit  of  conducting 
their  business.  This  was  a direct  attempt  to  diminish  their  trade, 
and  consequently  their  profits,  and  there  cannot  be  a doubt  that 
most  publicans  in  Scotland  suffered  considerable  loss  by  the  operation 
of  that  Act. 

“ Then,  in  1860,  we  had  Mr.  Gladstone’s  Wine  Licence  Act, 
which  established  yet  another  form  of  liquor-selling,  by  permitting 
grocers  and  others  to  sell  wine,  and  in  some  cases  spirits,  for  con- 
sumption off  the  premises.  Again,  the  argument  urged  in  favour 
of  this  Act  was,  ‘ that  people  would,  be  induced  to  purchase  light 
wines  at  the  grocers’  and  drink  them  under  the  restraining  influence 
of  home,  instead  of  going  to  the  public-house,  where  temptation  to 
excess  would  be  much  stronger.’  The  House  of  Commons  accepted 
the  argument,  and  passed  the  Bill  in  the  full  hope  and  assurance 
that  the  publicans  would  be  injured  thereby ; and  if  such  injury 
has  resulted,  it  has  been  done  without  even  the  mention  of  such  a 
thing  as  compensation. 

“ The  next  Act  of  importance  was  that  of  1869,  introduced  by 
Sir  Selwyn  Ibbetson,  which  placed  beer  licences  under  the  control 


APPENDIX. 


475 


of  the  magistrates  and  brought  beer-sellers  under  a new  set  of  regu- 
lations, by  which  the  interests  of  many  of  that  class  were  materially 
affected.  There  was  one  provision  of  the  Act  which  illustrated  our 
argument  in  a very  special  manner.  Under  that  Act  the  rental 
qualification  for  beer-houses  was  very  considerably  raised,  and  all 
houses  which  were  not  up  to  the  required  standard  forfeited  the 
licence.  It  is  true  that  the  magistrates  gave  twelve  months’  time  to 
afford  opportunity  for  increasing  the  value  by  the  addition  of  extra 
rooms  ; but  still  the  fact  remains  that  there  were  large  numbers  of 
beer-sellers  who  had  to  forfeit  their  licences  through  no  fault  of  their 
own,  but  simply  through  the  operation  of  an  Act  of  Parliament. 
Here  were  a number  of  men  who  held  licences  for  the  sale  of 
beer  on  terms  dictated  by  the  State ; they  had  done  nothing  in 
violation  of  those  terms  ; but  the  State  arbitrarily  altered  the  con- 
ditions and  imposed  terms  they  could  not  fulfil,  with  the  result 
that  they  had  to  relinquish  their  ‘ vested  right  ’ and  sacrifice  their 
‘ vested  interest.’  In  Liverpool  alone  the  number  of  beershops  was 
reduced  by  about  300.  All  these  people  were  compelled  by  Act  of 
Parliament  to  retire  from  business  without  compensation.  And 
this  cannot  be  set  down  as  an  unforeseen  result ; the  very  purpose 
and  object  of  the  measure  was  to  get  rid  of  the  ‘ low  beershops.’ 

“ In  1872  Mr.  Bruce’s  Bill  was  passed.  Under  this  Act  the 
hours  of  sale  were  reduced  by  about  twenty-four  hours  a week,  some 
time  was  taken  off  every  day  of  the  week  at  both  ends  of  the  day, 
and  the  houses  were  exposed  to  stringent  inspection  and  subjected 
to  irksome  regulations,  of  which  the  keepers  loudly  complained. 
Publicans  cried  out  that  their  interests  were  being  hardly  dealt 
with.  It  is  extremely  probable  that  every  publican  in  the  kingdom 
was  injured  more  or  less  by  the  working  of  this  Act.  But  the  cry 
for  compensation  was  not  even  raised  in  its  feeblest  form.  Every- 
body agreed  that  the  public  good  ought  to  be  served  even  though 
publicans  should  lose. 

“The  last  instance  of  Parliamentary  interference  with  this  trade 
is  that  of  the  Irish  Sunday  Closing  Bill.  It  will  be  easily  remem- 
bered how  hard  the  publicans  fought  against  it — how  they  declared, 
time  after  time,  that  it  meant  ruin  for  them,  as  Sunday  was  the 
principal  business  day  with  them.  But  in  spite  of  these  declarations 
the  Bill  became  law.  This  Bill  afforded  an  opportunity  of  raising 
the  question  of  compensation,  which  was  done  by  Mr.  P.  J.  Smythe, 
who  moved  that  the  Bill  be  recommitted  in  order  that  a clause 
might  be  inserted  providing  compensation  to  those  who  would  be 
injured  by  it.  The  House  rejected  the  proposal  and  refused  to 
entertain  the  idea  at  all. 

“ We  have  cited  these  manifold  instances  of  Parliamentary 
interference  in  order  to  show  that  the  conduct  of  Parliament  in  this 
matter  lends  no  support  whatever  to  the  theory  set  up  by  our 
opponents.  These  facts  establish  one  thing  of  importance  in 


476 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


relation  to  this  question — that  the  State  has  a perfect  right  to  deal 
as  it  will  with  this  traffic  without  regard  to  the  pecuniary  losses  of 
individuals.  The  logic  of  these  facts  seems  to  he  this: — If  the 
State  has  a right  to  damage  the  interests  and  depreciate  the  value 
of  the  publicans’  property  to  a small  extent  in  order  to  serve  the 
common  weal,  it  has  the  same  right  to  damage  them  to  any  extent 
for  the  same  purpose.  If  it  be  granted  that  Parliament  has  the 
right  to  take  away  one-twelfth  of  the  publicans’  sale  without  com- 
pensation, it  cannot  be  denied  that  it  has  the  same  right  to  take 
away  the  remainder.  If  for  a given  reason  the  State  can  rightly 
cause  a man  to  lose  a penny  out  of  every  shilling  without  com- 
pensating him  for  his  loss,  it  has  the  same  right  for  the  same  reason 
to  cause  him  to  lose  the  other  elevenpence.  There  is  no  difference 
in  principle;  it  is  simply  one  of  degree.  It  is  just  as  right  or  just 
as  wrong  to  rob  a man  of  a penny  as  a pound. 

“A  "Working  Man.” 


From  the  Alliance  News,  August  7,  1880 : — 
“Compensation  to  Publicans. 

“We  now  proceed  to  examine  the  second  part  of  the  case  we 
have  sketched.  It  is  based  entirely  upon  the  statement  that  the 
licensing  authority  has  no  power  to  withdraw  licences,  except  in 
the  case  of  those  who  have  been  convicted  of  offences  against  the 
law;  all  others  they  are  bound  to  renew.  As  a statement  of  the 
law,  we  hold  this  to  be  incorrect ; but  it  undoubtedly  is  according 
to  the  practice  of  the  courts.  This  is  the  strongest  point  our 
opponents  urge,  but  we  shall  endeavour  to  show  that  it  is  far  too 
weak  to  bear  the  heavy  claim  they  seek  to  rest  upon  it.  The  most 
that  it  proves  is  that  at  present  the  magistrates  do  not  exercise 
power  to  refuse  the  renewal  of  a licence,  except  for  certain 
reasons.  But  that  does  not  in  the  least  debar  Parliament  from 
expressly  conferring  the  power  on  them.  If  Parliament  did,  any 
licence  renewed  afterwards  would  be  renewed  clearly  subject  to 
being  revoked  at  the  next  licensing  day.  To  say  that  the  magistrates 
do  not  possess  a certain  power  of  refusal,  does  not  limit  the  right  of 
the  State  in  conferring  the  power.  And  if  the  State  may  rightly 
confer  such  a power  upon  magistrates,  it  would  be  equally  right 
for  it  to  place  the  same  power  in  the  hands  of  the  people  or  their 
representatives. 

“ What  is  this  licence  for  the  loss  of  which  so  much  money  is 
claimed  from  the  State  ? It  is  simply  a legal  instrument,  giving 
effect  to  an  agreement  between  the  State  on  the  one  hand  and  an 
individual  on  the  other,  by  which  the  former  gives  to  the  latter 
permission  to  sell  intoxicating  liquor  for  a given  period  in  con- 
sideration of  a specific  sum  of  money.  All  licences  are  granted  ‘ for 


APPENDIX. 


477 


one  year,  and  no  longer.’  This  is  most  distinctly  stated  on  the 
back  of  every  licence,  along  with  the  other  conditions  as  to  per- 
mitting drunkenness  and  disorderly  conduct.  What  may  be  termed 
as  the  contract,  then,  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  permission  to  sell 
liquor  at  the  times  and  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  law,  for  the 
period  of  twelve  months.  When  the  term  for  which  the  licence 
was  granted  has  expired,  and  the  licensee  has  been  allowed  to  carry 
on  his  trade  according  to  agreement,  he  has  then  got  all  he  paid  for. 
He  paid  for  permission  to  sell,  he  got  it,  made  the  most  he  could  of 
it  for  his  own  benefit ; and,  we  submit,  it  is  quite  competent  for 
Parliament  to  make  a law  instructing  those  who  act  in  its  behalf 
not  to  renew  the  engagement. 

“ Another  important  point  is  the  right  of  Parliament  to  alter 
the  terms  and  conditions  of  licences.  These  are  not  permanent,  but 
are,  on  the  contrary,  generally  being  changed.  The  State  has 
always  asserted  its  right  to  alter,  in  any  way  it  thinks  fit,  the 
laws  under  which  licences  are  held.  It  may  cause  licences  to  be 
granted  for  six  months,  a year,  or  five  years;  it  may  decide  the 
days  and  hours  during/which  the  business  may  be  conducted  ; and 
at  the  expiration  of  one  licence  it  can  amend,  alter,  curtail,  extend, 
destroy,  or  continue  any  of  these  conditions  as  affecting  the  next 
year’s  licence.  Now  it  is  claimed  on  behalf  of  the  publicans  that 
each  individual  holder  of  a licence  has  a vested  interest  in  his 
licence  for  a longer  period  than  that  for  which  it  has  been  granted. 
If  that  be  so,  then  he  must  have  a vested  interest  in  the  same  kind 
of  licence  for  next  year  as  the  one  he  has  this.  For  instance,  a man 
having  a licence  to  sell  on  seven  days  of  the  week  during  1880  has, 
according  to  this  theory,  a vested  interest  in  a seven  days’  licence 
for  1881.  If  a licence,  once  granted,  becomes  the  property  of  him 
who  gets  it,  and  his  privileges  under  it  are  curtailed  by  one-tenth, 
his  ‘ property  ’ is  damaged  to  precisely  that  amount.  But  has  the 
State  recognized  a licence  as  property  in  that  sense?  We  have 
already  seen  how  the  State  has  terminated  the  seven  days’  licence 
in  Scotland  and  Ireland,  and  substituted  for  it  a six  days’  licence, 
thus  diminishing  the  value  of  the  property  without  granting  any 
compensation  whatever.  Either  the  State  has  acted  unjustly  before, 
or  it  has  now  the  right  to  carry  the  same  principle  further,  and 
apply  it  to  all  the  days  of  the  week.  The  licence  cannot  be  a 
‘ property  ’ one  day  of  tne  week,  and  something  else  another.  The 
Duke  of  Wellington  was  in  the  right  when  he  said,  in  the  discussion 
on  the  Beer  Bill,  ‘ The  fact  is,  those  persons  hold  their  licences  from 
year  to  year,  and  at  the  expiration  of  each  year  all  right  ceases,  and 
it  is  only  the  renewal  of  the  licence  which  continues  the  right.’ 

“ This  leads  us  to  another  point,  viz.,  that  a licence  is  a privilege 
and  not  a right.  Being  a privilege,  it  is  not  something  a man  can 
claim  as  by  right.  No  man  can  go  before  the  magistrate  aud 
demand  a publican’s  licence  as  a right ; the  only  right  he  has  is  to 


478 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


ask,  and  it  is  the  right  of  the  magistrates  to  grant  or  refuse.  All 
the  rights  in  the  case  belong  to  the  State,  and  the  privileges  only 
belong  to  the  publicans,  and  these  privileges  are  conferred  upon 
them  by  the  law,  and  can  be  modified  or  abolished  at  the  will  of 
the  law-makers.  It  is  absurd  to  argue  that  because  the  State  grants 
a privilege  once,  it  is  bound  to  do  so  to  the  end  of  time.  The  very 
power  to  grant  or  refuse  includes  the  power  to  withdraw,  otherwise 
the  State  can  only  act  in  one  direction.  When  this  privilege  has 
been  granted,  the  man  who  receives  it  usually  makes  money  more 
rapidly  and  more  easily,  perhaps,  than  he  could  in  any  other  business. 
He  does  so,  not  because  of  his  business  ability,  but  simply  because 
he  is  permitted  to  carry  on  a trade  which  those  around  him  may  not. 
He  is  relieved  from  the  pressure  of  open  competition.  He  is  engaged 
in  a protected  business.  If  the  privilege  which  allows  him  to  do 
this  be  withdrawn,  what  injustice  is  done  to  him  ? He  is  allowed 
to  retain  the  money  he  has  made,  and  the  property  he  has  accumu- 
lated; he  is  simply  told  he  must  not  make  any  more  in  that  way. 
And  then,  forsooth,  he  is  to  be  compensated,  and  for  what  ? For 
the  money  lie  would  have  made ! Not  compensation  for  actual  loss, 
but  compensation  for  loss  in  prospective  ! 

“ It  will  be  readily  conceded  that  the  liquor  traffic  derives  its 
special  value  from  the  fact  of  its  being  a monopoly.  It  is  this 
which  makes  men  so  anxious  to  get  into  it,  and  to  pay  so  much 
more  than  the  actual  value  for  premises,  goodwill,  etc.  This  is  not 
a value  which  has  been  created  either  by  the  publican’s  industry  or 
capital ; it  is  altogether  outside  of  and  independent  of  any  action  of 
his  own ; it  is  a fictitious  value  created  for  him  by  the  State.  What 
the  State  has  created  it  can  destroy.  There  is  one  method  of  doing 
so  which  no  one  would  dispute  the  right  of  the  State  to  employ.  It 
might  destroy  the  monopoly  by  making  the  trade  free ; then  this 
special  fictitious  value  would  be  entirely  gone,  and  no  one  would 
have  the  audacity  or  the  impudence  to  ask  for  compensation  in  that 
case.  It  is  perfectly  reasonable  to  say  that  if  the  State  has  a right 
to  destroy  the  monopoly  by  legislating  in  one  direction,  it  has  just 
the  same  right  to  destroy  it  by  legislating  in  another. 

“There  is  just  one  other  point  which  has  a special  bearing  upon 
the  question  of  permissive  prohibition.  As  everybody  knows, 
publicans  are  licensed  to  supply  a supposed  public  want,  and  not  that 
they  may  make  haste  and  get  rich.  If  it  could  be  shown  that  the 
public  ‘ want  ’ no  longer  existed,  then  the  reason  for  granting  licences 
would  be  gone ; and  if  the  State  made  it  a condition  of  licensing 
that  the  ratepayers  of  each  district  should  be  in  favour  of  it,  it  would 
only  be  exercising  its  right  to  impose  fresh  conditions. 

“ We  think  we  have  now  fully  shown  that  this  demand  for  com- 
pensation is  unreasonable,  and  that  the  principles  of  ‘ justice  and  fair- 
ness ’ would  not  be  violated  by  its  being  disregarded.  There  may  be 
cases  of  special  hardship,  where  the  instinct  of  generosity  might 


APPENDIX. 


479 


prompt  some  sort  of  relief ; but  that  would  be  far  different  from  a 
wholesale  compensation  to  all  the  multifarious  interests  of  business 
and  property  connected  with  the  traffic.  We  cannot  help  thinking 
that  the  reason  why  the  publicans  and  their  advocates  insist  so 
strongly  upon  this  claim  is  not  because  of  what  they  will  get  so 
much  as  of  the  use  they  hope  to  make  of  it  in  delaying  legislation. 
They  evidently  regard  it  as  a sort  of  ‘ red  rag  ’ to  frighten  John  Bull 
with  ; but  they  would  better  beware  how  far  they  press  their  claim, 
for  there  are  not  wanting  indications  that  if  the  extinguished  part 
of  the  traffic  is  to  be  compensated  it  must  be  at  the  expense  of  the 
remnant.  However,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  people  and  Parliament 
will  not  be  deterred  by  any  oblique  considerations  upon  this 
point,  but  that  they  will  give  effect  to  a policy  of  justice  and  fairness 
towards  the  people,  and  that  they  will  not  be  dismayed  by  the 
audacity  of  a great  monopoly  which  has  unfortunately  been  allowed 
to  grow  up,  and  which  has  grown  at  the  expense  of  everything  truly 
great,  noble,  and  good. 

“ A Working  Man.” 


From  tlie  Alliance  News,  April  9,  1881 : — 

“ On  Compensation  to  Discarded  Drink  Traffickers. 

“ At  a meeting  at  Stratford,  Essex,  on  March  16th,  the  eminent 
brewer,  Mr.  E.  N.  Buxton,  avowed  himself  in  favour  of  Local 
Option,  if  interpreted  as  he  and  the  Right  Honourable  John  Bright 
interpret  it.  But  he  added  that  he  claimed  compensation,  though 
whether  to  publicans,  to  brewers,  or  to  distillers — or  to  all  of  them 
— the  reports  of  his  speech  leave  obscure.  Moreover,  by  his  tart 
remark,  that  many  people  want  to  do  good,  provided  that  it  be 
not  with  their  own  money,  he  very  distinctly  implied  that  it  is 
dishonest  to  refuse  compensation  to  traders  in  drink  when  their 
licence  is  not  renewed.  But  while  he  distinctly  claims  compensa- 
tion, he  leaves  us  wholly  in  the  dark  on  what  grounds  he  imagines 
his  right  to  rest.  Nothing  is  easier  than  to  say,  ‘ It  is  our  right,’ 
and  give  no  proof ; and  such  a procedure  leaves  us  without  any 
argument  to  attack.  It  is,  we  suppose,  a prudent  method ; such 
as  a Lord  Chancellor  counselled  to  one  who  was  about  to  become  a 
colonial  governor.  ‘ Announce  your  judgments  simply,  but  never 
give  reasons  for  them.’  Nor  is  it  only  those  in  the  trade  who  so 
deal  with  us.  Mr.  Herbert  Gladstone  recently  seemed  to  announce 
in  his  father’s  name  that  compensation  to  the  trade  would  be  an 
absolute  condition  of  any  such  reform  as  we  seek ; but  he  gave  no 
reason  whatever  for  compensation ; hence  there  is  nothing  to  refute. 
The  Right  Honourable  John  Bright  certainly  in  one  speech  gave  a 
sort  of  reason ; and  for  want  of  something  to  grapple  with,  we  shall 
give  more  attention  to  his  argument  than  it  at  all  deserves.  He 


480 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


said  the  precedent  of  compensation  to  slaveholders  in  1833  was  a 
reason  for  compensation  to  drink-sellers. 

“ Now,  first,  if  precedent  is  to  weigh  anything,  we  have  an 
overwhelming  precedent  on  the  opposite  side.  In  a. multitude  of 
rural  districts  the  squires,  lords,  and  magistrates  have  totally 
exterminated  drink-shops.  Above  ten  years  ago  a Committee  of 
the  Convocation  of  Canterbury  published  the  names  of  more  than 
fourteen  hundred  parishes  and  townships  in  that  province  alone, 
where  this  process  of  extinction  was  complete,  and  was  acquiesced 
in.  It  was  done  by  the  mere  will  of  the  landlords,  over  the  heads 
both  of  the  people  and  of  the  drink-sellers.  No  meeting  of  popular 
indignation  can  be  quoted  to  support  Professor  Fawcett  and  the 
late  Mr.  Stuart  Mill  on  the  one  side  ; nor  any  appeal  to  a court  of 
justice  on  the  part  of  publicans,  brewers,  or  distillers,  to  demand 
compensation  from  the  high-handed  landlords  and  magistrates. 
They  have  everywhere  submitted  meekly,  without  complaint  or 
resistance,  to  a happy  extinction  which  began  probably  forty  years 
ago.  Such  conduct  of  the  drink  traffickers  is  not  merely  a precedent 
— that  word  is  too  feeble.  Their  conduct  is  what  Roman  laywers 
would  call  a prcejudicium,  a weighty  previous  decision,  and  one 
pronounced  by  themselves.  We  say  of  them  with  Cicero,  con- 
fitentem  habemus  reum ; i.e.,  we  have  an  opponent,  who,  in  a 
like  previous  case,  confessed  he  had  no  claim,  and,  very  wealthy 
though  he  is,  wisely  abstained  from  spending  his  money  in  an 
utterly  hopeless  lawsuit.  It  cannot  be  pretended  that  if  the  people 
vote  down  the  drink  traffic,  a claim  of  compensation  at  once  arises, 
which  did  not  exist  against  landlords  and  magistrates  when  they 
extinguished  the  shops  at  their  private  will,  and  often  for  their 
private  gain  as  well  as  their  family  comfort.  No  one  bearing  the 
name  of  Buxton  will  say  that  the  pecuniary  interest  of  a squire  is 
a more  sacred  cause  than  the  moral  and  material  welfare  of  a com- 
munity ; nor  do  we  believe  that  the  Right  Honourable  John  Bright 
will  maintain  that  a landlord  ought  to  have  a greater  right  to 
extinguish  a local  trade  at  his  private  will  than  a local  community 
to  do  the  same  thing  by  public  vote.  The  demand  of  compensation 
from  the  public  is  simply  monstrous  from  traders  who  never  dared 
to  claim  it  from  landlords  and  magistrates. 

“ Nor  is  this  the  only  precedent  which  utterly  confutes  the 
claim.  In  past  centuries  it  was  a received  principle,  acted  upon 
unanimously,  suddenty,  and  without  compensation  to  traders,  to 
forbid  exportation  of  food,  if  food  were  scarce  and  inconveniently 
dear.  For  the  same  reason  the  conversion  of  grain  into  malt  was 
occasionally  stopped;  and,  however  sudden  the  prohibition,  no 
compensation  was  given.  But  to  assert  a negative  may  he  im- 
prudent. Can,  then,  Mr.  Buxton  adduce  any  instance  of  compensa- 
tion in  such  case  ? 

“ We  now  turn  to  the  Right  Honourable  J ohn  Bright’s  imagined 


APPENDIX. 


481 


precedent  in  the  compensation  to  the  slaveholders.  First  of  all,  we 
deny  that  he  has  any  right  to  call  it  compensation.  ‘ Mr.  Secretary 
Stanley  ’ (afterwards  Earl  of  Derby)  did,  no  doubt,  call  it  compensa- 
tion, but  protest  against  this  word  was  instantly  made  by  Daniel 
O’Connell,  and  nothing  in  the  previous  speeches  and  arguments 
justified  the  phrase.  Parliament  voted  the  twenty  millions  as  a 
liberal  gift  to  prevent  the  islands  from  going  out  of  cultivation 
through  the  inability  of  planters  to  pay  wages ; so  great  was  the 
waste  and  extravagance,  so  extensive  were  the  mortgages.  Trembling 
lest  insurrection  should  ravage  and  swallow  up  their  whole  property, 
and  conscious  that  the  original  kidnapping  of  Africans  was  illegal, 
the  planters  gladly  accepted  the  ample  gift ; but  had  no  sooner  got 
it  than  they  called  it  compensation,  and  before  long  declared  it  to 
be  inadequate.  But  suppose  the  Right  Honourable  John  Bright 
to  be  correct  in  calling  it  compensation,  still  it  is  a gross  fallacy  to 
represent  it  as  a precedent  applicable  to  the  drink  traffic ; for  the 
slaveholders  had  one  very  plausible  argument,  which  may  be  called 
their  stronghold,  to  which  nothing  at  all  akin  can  be  alleged  by 
the  drink  traffickers — namely,  though  the  primitive  kidnapping 
was  forbidden  by  English  statute,  and  the  colonial  law  courts  had 
no  right  to  enact  an  enslavement  which  English  common  law 
ignored,  yet  as  a fact  they  had  winked  at  the  illegality,  and  had 
treated  the  negroes  as  rightful  property;  and,  what  is  more,  the 
English  courts  had  acquiesced  in  the  same  doctrine  in  cases  which 
could  be  quoted.  Nay,  old  Lord  Stowell,  a most  revered  judge, 
dishonoured  himself  by  a decision  in  favour  of  slaves,  as  property, 
a few  years  before  the  Act  of  Liberation.  Can  the  Right  Honourable 
John  Bright  appeal  to  cases  in  which  a publican  has  sold  his 
(imagined)  right  to  a perpetuity  of  licence,  and  a court  of  law  has 
recognized  the  sale  as  a valid  transaction?  Until  he  can  do  so,  we 
have  a right  to  see  in  his  attempt  to  make  the  cases  parallel,  a 
fallacy  quite  unworthy  of  a robust  and  honest  mind. 

“ But  that  is  not  all.  Though  he  is  honoured  by  the  title  Privy 
Councillor,  this  argument  of  his  for  compensation  denotes  that  he 
has  not  understood  within  what  limits  and  for  what  good  reasons 
precedent  may  be  adduced  in  argument.  Where  justice  points  to 
a right  and  a wrong,  appeal  to  precedent  is  wholly  out  of  place. 
Only  where  there  is  no  clear  right  and  wrong  can  any  weight  be 
given  to  precedent.  If  an  injustice  has  become  ever  so  customary, 
that  does  not  constitute  a right ; else  slavery  of  the  worst  type 
would  be  justified  by  precedent.  Precedent  ought  to  be  invoked 
only  when  by  reason  of  the  absence  of  adequate  moral  argument 
for  right  and  wrong,  good  men  are  liable  to  quarrel  about  things  in 
themselves  indifferent.  In  such  cases  precedent  is  very  valuable. 
Thus,  when  a king  dies,  in  one  country  the  chief  lawyer,  in  another 
the  chief  ecclesiastic,  in  another  the  president  of  a senate  or  council, 
may  have  the  duty  of  summoning  the  notables  who  are  to  pronounce 

2 i 


482 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


and  proclaim  the  new  sovereign.  One  method  may  be  nearly  as 
good  as  another ; but  unless  in  each  nation  precedent  decide  on  the 
details,  confusion  and  quarrel  may  arise.  But  where  right  and 
wrong  are  clear,  to  flee  to  precedent  or  analogy  is  the  part  of  the 
sophist,  not  of  the  just  man.  Now  in  the  case  before  us  the  right 
is  perfectly  clear,  and  if  the  Bight  Honourable  John  Bright  does  not 
see  it,  so  much  the  worse  for  his  intellect.  No  publican  ever  receives 
a licence  to  sell  intoxicating  drink  for  any  previous  services  which 
he  has  done,  nor  for  any  personal  virtue,  but  because  it  is  presumed 
that  the  public  interest  needs  him.  He  never  receives  a licence  to 
last  more  than  twelve  months,  and  Mr.  E.  N.  Buxton  tells  us  that 
the  licence  confers  a great  additional  pecuniary  value  on  the  house. 
This  the  publican,  or  the  brewer  behind  him,  receives  gratuitously. 
What  epithet  but  impudent  justly  describes  the  conduct  of  a man 
who  declares  that  because  a privilege  is  gratuitously  granted  him 
for  twelve  months,  therefore  he  has  a right  to  it  for  a perpetuity ; 
and  that  if  it  is  not  renewed  he  has  a just  claim  to  compensation  ? 
The  difficulty  of  reasoning  against  such  pretensions  is  precisely  the 
same  as  we  encounter  when  an  audacious  man  proclaims  that  man- 
stealing and  fornication  are  legitimate.  One  knows  not  from  what 
first  principles  to  argue  against  men  of  this  class.” 


From  the  Alliance  News,  December  10,  1881  : — 

“ The  ‘ Pall  Mall  Gazette  ’ on  Compensation. 

“ In  a recent  number,  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  remarked  that  ‘ it 
is  already  sometimes  contended  that  if  in  the  interests  of  public 
peace  and  security  the  State  deems  it  necessary  to  deprive  any 
section  of  its  subjects  of  their  lawful  property,  it  is  bound  to  com- 
pensate the  sufferers.  A public  benefit,  it  is  urged,  should  not  be 
sought  by  the  injury  of  individuals,  and  if  the  State  confiscates  the 
State  should  compensate.  This  principle,  they  say,  was  acted  on 
in  the  case  of  the  abolition  of  purchase  in  the  army,  in  that  of  the 
disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church,  and  in  what  some  take  to  be 
the  most  crucial  instance  of  all,  that  of  the  emancipation  of  the 
slaves  in  the  British  colonies.  Even  the  holders  of  Scotch  patronage 
were  compensated  under  the  Act  abolishing  patronage ; and  the 
admitted  necessity  for  compensating  the  vested  interests  engaged  in 
the  liquor  trade  has  hitherto  been  the  most  formidable  obstacle  in 
the  path  of  temperance  reformers.  What  are  the  answers  to  this 
line  of  argument  ? 

“ ‘ In  the  first  place,  the  cases  quoted  byway  of  analogy  are  not 
all  of  them  real  analogies.  Compensation  to  publicans,  for  instance, 
has  only  been  proposed  in  case  they  should  be  totally  expropriated. 
In  the  same  way  the  Irish  landlords  will  be  compensated  whenever 
the  tenants  buy  up  all  their  rights  and  interests.  Kestriction  is  not 


APPENDIX. 


483 


the  same  as  expropriation.  Where  a Sunday  Closing  Act  is  put 
into  force  the  publican  is  deprived  by  it  of  one-seventh  of  his  means 
of  earning  a livelihood.  Yet  never  either  in  Ireland  or  in  Wales 
has  compensation  for  this  abrogation  of  a right  of  which  the  publican 
was  previously  in  full  possession  been  either  paid  or  suggested. 
Take  another  case.  Before  the  Licensing  Acts  were  passed  publicans 
were  entitled  to  sell  drink  to  children  and  drunken  persons.  For 
reasons  of  public  morality  this  legal  right,  which,  morally  speaking, 
ought  never  to  have  been  exercised,  was  taken  away,  to  the  publican’s 
pecuniary  detriment,  but  assuredly  no  one  ever  dreamed  of  offering 
compensation.’ 

“ In  a letter  to  the  editor  of  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  dated 
Oxford,  December  1,  ‘ A.  R.  M.’  writes : ‘ Sir, — In  your  article,  in 
which  you  clearly  demonstrated  the  injustice  of  a claim  for  com- 
pensation by  landlords  in  Ireland  who  had  secured  compensation  for 
themselves  by  rack-renting  in  the  past,  and  who  thereby  had  placed 
themselves  in  the  position  rather  of  debtors  to  their  tenants  than  of 
just  claimants  for  compensation,  you  alluded  to  the  probability  of 
compensation  being  due  to  publicans  in  the  event  of  the  houses 
which  are  occupied  by  them  being  deprived  of  the  licences.  These 
houses  are  licensed  for  the  benefit  of  the  public.  The  magistrates 
annually  determine  the  continuation  or  withdrawal  of  the  licence. 
If  it  is  found  that  a licensed  house  in  a certain  locality  is  hurtful, 
and  if,  therefore,  the  licence  is  withdrawn,  should  compensation  be 
given  to  the  publican?  Say  that  in  a certain  street,  consisting  of 
fifty  houses  of  equal  value,  the  proprietor  of  one  of  the  houses  shall 
have  had  sufficient  local  influence  to  obtain  a licence  for  his  house, 
the  value  of  his  house  is  at  once  doubled.  The  value  of  all  the 
other  houses  in  the  street  is  probably  depreciated  on  account  of  the 
nuisance  created  by  the  proximity  of  the  public-house ; on  the 
extinction  of  the  public-house,  if  compensation  is  to  be  given  to  any 
of  the  houses  in  the  street,  should  it  be  given  to  the  one  which  has 
derived  great  profits  for  many  years  on  account  of  the  fictitious 
value  given  to  it  in  preference  to  its  neighbours  ; or  should  it  not 
rather  be  given  to  the  houses  which  have  suffered  depreciation  by 
reason  of  the  disturbance  created  by  an  unpleasant  neighbour? 
The  rack-renting  landlords  in  Ireland  and  the  licensed  house-owners 
in  England  have  under  the  law  long  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  the 
law.  They  have  both  enriched  themselves  at  the  expense  of  others. 
They  have  both  already  received  full  compensation.’ 

“ On  the  following  day  the  editor  of  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  said 
— ‘ The  precedent  of  the  compensation  paid  to  the  West  Indian 
slave-owners  for  the  emancipation  of  their  slaves  is  being  diligently 
“ worked  ” by  others  than  Irish  landlords.  The  chairman  of  the 
London  Licensed  Vintners’  Protective  Association  has  this  week 
been  over  to  Dublin  to  explain  his  views  as  to  the  necessity  for 
compensating  Irish  publicans  for  the  sacrifice  of  one-seventh  of  their 


484 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


business  by  the  Sunday  Closing  Act.  “ If  restrictive  measures  were 
passed,”  said  be,  “ why  should  not  the  licensed  traders  be  com- 
pensated for  the  loss  of  their  business?  Surely  they  were  as  much 
and  more  entitled  to  compensation  than  the  West  Indian  slave- 
owners were  to  compensation  when  the  slaves  were  emancipated.” 
The  analogy  holds  as  good  in  one  case  as  the  other.  That  is  to  say, 
it  is  equally  worthless  in  both.’  ” 


From  the  Alliance  News,  October  9,  1880  : — 

“ Papers  on  Local  Option,  read  at  the  Church  Congress. 

“ (Rev.  Canon  Hopkins’s  Paper.) 

“ WHAT  DO  YOU  MEAN  BY  LOCAL  OPTION  ? 

“ This  question  is  sometimes  asked,  almost  with  an  air  of 
triumph,  by  persons  who  think  that  a satisfactory  answer  is 
impossible.  The  questioner  is,  of  course,  an  Englishman.  He  will 
perhaps  say  that  he  knows  the  English  people  well ; and  that  he 
knows  their  habits  too  well.  He,  for  his  part,  thinks  it  dangerous 
to  put  power  into  the  hands  of  the  people,  lest  they  should  use  it 
badly,  and  make  matters  worse  than  they  are.  Perhaps  he  takes  a 
different  line,  and  boasts  that  English  people  are  free.  He  will 
oppose  anything  which  curtails  their  liberty  by  one  jot  or  one 
tittle.  He  hates  the  petty  tyranny  of  self-righteous  majorities. 
He  stands  up  for  the  rights  of  suffering  minorities.  He  is  resolved 
at  all  costs  to  uphold  the  birthright  of  every  Englishman  (a  right 
now  largely  claimed  by  English  women  too)  to  get  drunk  at  his 
own  expense,  whenever  and  wherever  he  may  choose ! 

“ Passing  by  such  disputations  as  these,  without  further  remark, 
I will  give  an  answer  to  the  question : What  do  you  mean  by  Local 
Option  ? 

“ By  Local  Option,  then,  I mean  a branch  of  local  self-government. 
Within  living  memory  the  area  of  local  self-government  has  been 
progressively  widened.  Without  at  all  ascribing  perfection  to  this 
kind  of  government,  I venture  to  claim  for  it  that  in  all  cases  it  has 
worked  well. 

“ Modern  sanitary  legislation  is  an  example  in  point.  The 
first  Public  Health  Act  was  a measure  the  general  scope  of  which 
was  to  confer  large  powers  upon  specified  local  authorities,  which 
the  inhabitants  of  the  locality  were  at  liberty  to  call  into  active 
existence,  or  not,  as  they  pleased.  These  powers  enabled  them  to 
remove  nuisances,  to  construct  drainage  works,  to  compel  house- 
holders to  connect  their  dwellings  with  the  new  drainage  system, 
to  provide  a supply  of  pure  water,  and  other  things  essential  to  the 
public-house.  There  was  an  outcry  then  about  the  infringement  of 
private  rights.  But  private  rights  which  had  been  proved  to  be 


APPENDIX. 


485 


public  wrongs  were  compelled  to  give  way.  An  Englishman’s 
house  ceased  to  be  his  castle,  so  far  that  he  could  no  longer  turn  it 
into  a public  nuisance,  and  set  his  neighbours’  remonstrances  at 
defiance.  Every  one  was  compelled  to  submit  to  authority.  The 
best  results  quickly  followed.  Pig-styes  disappeared  from  the  back 
streets  of  our  towns,  cesspools  were  filled  up,  dust-heaps  and  offal 
were  swept  away,  poor  people  were  enabled  to  breathe  purer  air, 
and  little  children  were  not  so  frequently,  as  aforetime,  stifled  in 
their  infancy  by  sewer  gas  and  foul  stenches.  Good  people  rejoiced, 
and  a few  malcontents,  who  used  to  grow  rich  upon  the  rents  of  over- 
crowded cellars  and  other  fever  dens,  after  making  a snarling  protest, 
in  very  shame  shrank  away  and  vanished  into  silence  and  oblivion. 

“ Local  self-government  is  no  new  thing  in  England.  It  is  older 
than  the  parish  vestry,  older  than  the  Imperial  Parliament,  older 
than  the  venerable  convocations  of  the  Church.  The  sphere  of  its 
activities  has  widened  itself  into  considerable  breadth  and  variety. 
The  people  have  a potential  voice  in  the  management  of  most  of 
their  local  affairs,  and  in  the  expenditure  of  the  rates  they  have  to 
pay.  Over  and  above  sanitary  matters,  local  officers  and  local 
boards  or  vestries  have  the  control  and  management  of  highways, 
and  public  lighting,  and  fire-engines  ; of  constables,  of  poor  relief, 
and  maintenance  of  lunatics,  of  elementary  education ; as  well  as 
limited  powers  to  regulate  village  feasts,  fairs,  and  statutes.  In  all 
these  cases  there  are  Acts  of  Parliament  which  confer  powers  and 
impose  restrictions,  and  provide  for  official  inspection  and  audit; 
but  the  executive  is  local,  and  the  funds  are  raised  and  expended 
by  local  authorities. 

“ Local  Option,  then,  is  a new  branch  of  local  self-government. 
The  advocates  of  Local  Option  desire  to  extend  to  the  drink  traffic 
the  control  of  local  self-government. 

“ If  it  be  asked  why  a claim  is  set  up  for  local  control  over  the 
sale  of  strong  drink,  and  not  over  the  sale  of  bread,  or  meat,  or 
calico,  the  answer  is  plain.  The  law  has  always  controlled  the 
sale  of  strong  drink,  and  has  required  periodical  certificates  of 
character  from  all  who  apply  for  a periodical  renewal  of  the  licence 
which  empowers  them  to  sell  strong  drink.  No  new  principle  is 
asked  for.  Restriction  and  control  have  always  been  imposed  upon 
dealers  in  intoxicating  drinks,  and  never  upon  butchers,  bakers, 
or  haberdashers ; or  if  ever,  they  are  imposed  no  longer. 

“ The  claim  for  local  control  over  the  granting,  the  renewal,  the 
suspension,  or  the  suppression  of  licences,  rests  upon  clear  and  well- 
defined  reasons.  Why  are  licensing  laws  enacted  ? Why  are 
licences  granted  ? They  are  granted  avowedly  in  the  interests  of 
the  people  at  large,  not  of  a class  or  section  only.  In  fact,  licences 
are  avowedly  granted — 

“(1)  For  the  benefit  of  the  locality,  i.e.,  to  supply  an  alleged 
want  or  need. 


486 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


“ (2)  For  the  protection  of  the  locality,  i.e.,  to  take  care  that 
no  harm  shall  be  done  to  the  lives,  or  the  property,  or  the  morals 
of  the  inhabitants. 

“ This  being  so,  who  are  the  best  and  fittest  judges  of  these 
things  ? Is  it  better  that  the  people  most  interested  should  judge 
for  themselves,  or  that  some  other  authority  should  judge  for  them  ? 
Let  us  see  how  the  matter  really  stands. 

“ 1.  In  the  first  place,  the  'inhabitants  of  the  locality  are  the 
persons  for  whose  benefit  the  licence  is  granted.  It  is  to  quench 
their  thirst  that  the  drinks  are  sold.  It  is  to  supply  their  wants 
that  the  licensed  house  or  houses  are  to  be  opened.  Who,  then, 
is  likely  to  know  what  they  really  want  so  well  as  the  inhabitants 
themselves  ? Who  are  so  likely  as  they  to  stand  out  and  make  a 
determined  resistance  if  an  attempt  should  be  made  to  issue 
licences,  not  for  the  benefit  of  the  inhabitants,  but  for  the  benefit  of 
some  one  else,  who  is  to  be  made  rich  at  their  cost,  and  out  of  their 
hard  earnings  ? 

“ 2.  Once  more,  the  inhabitants  of  the  locality  are  the  persons 
who  must  suffer  if  licences  are  improperly  granted,  or  if  licensed 
houses  are  badly  conducted.  If  a man  or  woman  be  turned  into 
the  streets  drunk  and  disorderly,  the  inhabitants  of  the  locality 
have  to  listen  to  all  the  quarrelling  and  filthy  abuse,  and  noises, 
and  blasphemous  outcries  which  ordinarily  go  on  until  the  drunkard 
becomes  sober  again,  or  is  forcibly  removed  and  locked  up. 

“ 3.  Again,  [if  a drunken  man  or  a drunken  woman  commits  a 
breach  of  the  peace,  or  some  brutal  crime,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
locality  often  get  a bad  name  and  a foul  reputation,  besides  having 
to  pay  the  police  who  apprehended,  the  judge  who  tries  the  offender, 
as  well  as  the  prison  officials,  and  the  prison  maintenance,  if  the 
culprit  be  convicted. 

“ 4.  Further  than  all  this,  if  drunken  men  and  besotted  women 
neglect  or  refuse  to  send  their  children  to  school,  the  inhabitants 
of  the  locality  pay  the  attendance  and  visiting  officer,  whose  duty 
it  is  to  look  up  neglected  children,  as  well  as  the  expenses  of  the 
proceedings ; and  they  also  suffer  from  the  loss  of  time  and  labour 
which  necessarily  supervenes. 

“ 5.  Once  more,  if  a working  man,  or  many  working  men,  fre- 
quent the  licensed  houses,  and  there  squander  away  the  wages 
which  would  otherwise  feed  and  clothe  and  educate  their  children, 
some  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  locality  have  to  go  hungry  and  cold 
and  naked  and  ignorant,  while  the  sots  are  drinking  themselves 
drunk,  and  others  have  to  pay  increased  poor  and  education  rates 
to  enable  the  idle  and  the  dissolute  to  prolong  their  wasteful 
orgies ! 

“ On  these  grounds  (and  I must  be  content  to  state  them 
rapidly  and  briefly)  I assert  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  locality  are 
the  natural  and  fitting  judges  of  two  things — (1)  of  their  own  wants; 


APPENDIX. 


487 


(2)  of  the  best  way  to  protect  themselves  from  the  manifold  injuries 
which  accrue  from  excessive  or  improper  sales  of  strong  drink. 

“ I rest  my  case  upon  the  naked  principles  of  common  sense  and 
common  justice.  If  a gentleman  who  lives  in  a park  and  owns  a 
whole  parish  can  say,  ‘ Our  people  do  not  want  a public-house,  and 
no  one  shall  compel  them  to  have  one  ’ (a  kind  of  local  option,  be 
it  observed,  which  prevails  in  more  than  eleven  hundred  parishes  in 
the  southern  counties  of  England  alone)  then  I contend  that,  in 
some  way  and  to  some  extent  which  shall  be  real  and  effective,  the 
inhabitants  of  any  and  of  every  locality,  be  it  a street,  or  a district, 
or  a town,  or  a village,  ought  to  have  the  right  and  the  power  to 
say,  ‘ We  know  our  own  wants,  and  we  know  our  own  minds  ; we 
do  not  want  more,  or  we  do  not  want  so  many  public-houses,  and 
we  will  not  have  them.’  ” 


From  the  Alliance  News,  June  24,  1882  : — 

“Has  the  Publican  any  Claim  to  Compensation  for  the 
Loss  of  his  Licence  under  Local  Option? 

(By  the  Rev.  S.  Edger,  of  New  Zealand .) 

“As  I did  not  hear  Dr.  Wallis’s  address  on  this  subject,  I can 
make  no  pretence  of  replying  to  it ; but  I am  led  to  think  that  it 
failed,  where  all  attempts  to  justify  compensation  do  fail,  so  far  as 
I have  been  able  to  see — viz.,  in  giving  no  answer  to  two  questions  : 
For  what  specifically  is  compensation  to  be  given  ? And  who  is  to 
give  it  ? It  is  no  answer  to  the  first  to  say,  ‘ Compensation  is  to  be 
given  for  the  loss  of  the  licence,’  unless  you  show  some  particular 
injury  or  injustice  that  is  done  to  the  man  from  whom  you  take  it ; 
and  that  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  avoid  that  injury  or  injustice. 
Numbers  of  people  have  things  taken  from  them,  directly  or  in- 
directly, for  the  loss  of  which  they  would  never  dream  of  asking 
compensation.  I take  from  a man  the  property  I have  lent  or 
hired,  out  to  him,  and  which  he  has  turned  to  great  profit  to  himself, 
because  I am  not  satisfied  with  his  use  of  it.  I take  away  the 
liberty  I have  given  him  to  shoot  over  my  grounds,  on  which  he  has 
reared  a lucrative  trade  in  game,  because  1 find  he  is  doing  mischief. 
Would  any  one  presume  to  ask  me  to  give  him  compensation? 
Certainly  not ; unless  I had  explicitly  guaranteed  to  him  continued 
possession,  or  had  inflicted  on  him  some  injury  that  he  could  not 
avoid,  over  and  above  the  discontinuance  of  the  privilege  and  its 
fruits. 

“ It  is  no  answer  to  the  second  question  to  say,  ‘ He  should  be 
compensated  out  of  the  public  revenue.’  Whose  is  the  public 
revenue  ? Have  the  owners  of  it  been  instrumental  in  any  way  in 
injuring  the  publican  ? Perhaps  half  of  them  have  never  consented 
to  there  being  any  publican ; perhaps  a great  number  of  them  have 


488 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


strongly  protested  against  it.  Why  take  their  money?  Many 
people  have  exceedingly  loose  notions  about  public  revenue,  as 
though  it  belonged  to  no  one,  and  might  be  used  for  any  purpose  ; 
whence  come  many  of  the  greatest  calamities  that  befall  nations. 
The  public  revenue  should  be  used  with  more  rigid  conscientiousness 
thau  any  private  income.  A gentleman  said  to  me  the  other  day, 

‘ I know  the  publicans  have  no  real  claim  iu  justice,  but  it  would 
be  worth  while,  and  it’s  the  easiest  and  cheapest  way,  to  buy  them 
all  out,  and  have  done  with  it.’  To  this  I most  seriously  demur.  It 
is  never  worth  while  to  do  wrong.  Though  it  sometimes  looks 
easy  to  do  a little  wrong,  and  secure  a little  right,  it  rarely  turns 
out  easy,  and  never  cheap.  To  take  public  revenue  for  what  it 
was  not  given,  and  without  the  owner’s  consent,  is  misappropriation 
— which  is  just  a milder  term  for  robbery ; and,  in  the  end,  is 
neither  easy  nor  cheap. 

“ I am  wishing,  therefore,  to  inquire  into  the  grounds  of  com- 
pensation ; and  shall  be  truly  glad  if  any  one,  whatever  view  he 
may  take,  can  help  me  to  throw  any  light  on  so  important  a 
question  ; which,  it  may  be  assumed,  we  should  all  wish  to  see 
settled  in  an  indisputable  manner. 

“ There  are  three  kinds  of  right  or  justice ; and  if  compensation 
is  right,  it  must  fall  under  one  of  three,  for  there  is  no  other.  There 
is  natural  right,  between  man  and  man  ; that  is  what  any  man  as  a 
man  owes  to  or  may  claim  from  any  other  man,  as  a man.  There 
is  social  or  legal  right,  founded  on  the  consent,  expressed  or  tacit, 
of  the  many,  growing  out  of  the  social  structure,  which  is  con- 
tinually being  more  completely  evolved.  And  there  is  the  higher, 
moral,  or  Christian  right ; founded  on  true  benevolence,  or  the  second 
great  command.  These,  I think,  cover  the  whole  ground;  or,  if 
not,  I should  be  glad  if  any  one  would  tell  us  of  any  other  right,  or 
point  out  anything  erroneous  in  thus  defining  the  ground.  If  we 
want  to  know  wdiether  a thing  is  right,  it  is  of  the  first  importance 
to  commence  the  inquiry  with  a clear  conception  of  all  that  is 
involved  in  the  term  ‘ right.’  A man  clearly  has  a right  to  his 
just  debts,  to  common  esteem  from  his  fellow-man,  that  he  may  be 
treated  as  a man ; to  such  freedom  as  does  not  infringe  on  another’s 
freedom,  so  that  he  may  act  as  a man — he  has  a right  to  all  this, 
on  the  simple  ground  of  his  humanity.  He  has  a right  to  that 
which  the  social  condition  justifies  him  in  expecting,  as  a member 
of  society,  or  a citizen.  And  he  has  a right  to  share  in  that  good- 
will which  the  highest  law  of  reciprocal  love  makes  every  man’s 
duty.  If  a publican  who  loses  his  licence  has  any  claim  to  com- 
pensation, such  claim  must  come  under  one  of  these  definitions  of 
right.  This  point  should  be  here  perfectly  settled. 

“ I.  "What,  then,  is  the  natural  right  or  justice  of  the  case  ? 

“ There  are  two  species  of  property  to  which  every  man  has  a 
natural  right,  and  which  you  ought  not  to  take  from  him  without 


APPENDIX. 


489 


adequate  compensation.  (1)  Accumulated  property,  including  all 
that  a man  has  saved  out  of  his  industry,  in  any  form  whatever  ; 
and  all  that  has  been  given  to  him  by  those  having  a right  to  give 
it.  He  has  no  right  to  what  he  has  stolen,  or  what  some  one  else 
has  stolen  and  given  to  him.  He  has  no  natural  right  to  that 
subtle  kind  of  property  which  has  been  termed  the  ‘ unearned 
increment,’  because  that  entirely  depends  on  society,  and,  if  any  at 
all,  must  be  a social  or  legal  right.  The  property  he  can  naturally 
claim  must  have  come  to  him  justly  by  industry  or  by  gift.  (2) 
The  other  species  of  property — the  term  property  may  appear 
singular,  but  is  justifiable,  as  the  only  appropriate  term — to  which 
he  has  a natural  right,  is  the  free  use  of  all  his  powers,  without 
detriment  to  others,  and  the  enjoyment  of  their  fruits.  It  is  wrong 
to  prevent  any  man  from  cultivating  all  his  faculties,  and  turning 
them  to  the  very  best  advantage,  supposing  always  that  he  injures 
no  one  else.  I wish  I could  know  whether  any  one  claims  any 
other  right  on  natural  grounds,  for  I have  not  been  able  to  discover 
any  not  included  in  these.  It  needs  great  care  all  through  to  see 
precisely  on  what  ground  we  can  stand. 

“ Any  violation  of  these  rights  would  form  good  ground  for  a 
claim  to  compensation. 

“ Are  they  violated  in  the  case  we  are  considering? 

“ When  you  take  away  the  publican’s  licence,  do  you  touch  his 
accumulated  capital  ? Do  you  touch  any  of  the  enormous  profits 
he  has  made?  Do  you  touch  any  of  his  material  in  building,  or  in 
anything  else  ? Not  that  I can  see.  What  you  do  is  to  say  that 
he  shall  no  longer  use  it  in  any  particular  way,  because  that  way  of 
using  it  is  found  to  be  ruinous  to  public  morality.  Now,  no  man 
can  have  a natural  right  to  use  any  of  his  property  in  such  a way 
— being  an  injury  to  others.  You  would  be  wrong  in  depriving 
him  of  his  property,  but  not  in  forbidding  that  injurious  use  of  it. 
Just  as  a man  has  no  right  so  to  use  his  firearms  as  to  endanger  the 
lives  of  his  neighbours — and  you  very  properly  prohibit  his  doing 
so.  Suppose  he  were  to  say,  ‘ By  this  prohibition  you  cut  off  one 
source  of  my  revenue — for  it  is  thus  I test  their  strength  and 
efficiency — and  I claim  compensation,’  you  would  simply  smile  at 
his  claim.  You  would  say  to  him,  ‘ It  is  your  business  to  find  out 
some  other  way  of  using  them;  but  whether  you  do  or  do  not, 
whether  you  can  or  not,  you  must  not  be  allowed  to  endanger  your 
neighbours’  lives.’  What  society  or  the  law  might  say  to  such  a 
claim  we  shall  consider  by-and-by.  To  establish  any  such  claim 
on  grounds  of  natural  right  is  utterly  impossible.  Ail  that  he  has 
a natural  right  to  is  there  untouched,  and  he  can  have  no  natural 
right  to  any  use  of  it  that  is  fatal  or  pernicious  to  others.  It  cannot 
be  too  often  repeated,  as  lucidly  evident,  that  before  you  can 
establish  a claim  to  compensation,  you  must  show  that  some  right 
has  been  violated. 


490 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


“ Though  it  is  not  essential  to  the  argument,  it  strengthens  it, 
that  even  if  any  claim  were  allowed,  it  would  be  impossible  justly 
to  estimate  it.  For  you  would  have  to  find  out  all  other  uses  to 
which  that  property  could  he  put,  and  their  values,  and  by  com- 
parison to  strike  the  balance,  before  you  could  arrive  at  a fair  result 
— a manifestly  impossible  thing. 

“ Or  do  you  interfere  with  the  man’s  exercise  of  his  powers  and 
energies?  I should  readily  grant  that  any  such  infringement  of 
his  natural  rights  would  form  an  indisputable  ground  for  compensa- 
tion, since  there  is  no  natural  right  so  perfectly  beyond  question  as 
that  of  the  use  of  all  one’s  powers  for  the  great  ends  of  life — always 
under  the  condition,  without  injury  to  others.  Suppose,  then,  a 
man  has  spent  time,  labour,  and  money  in  the  cultivation  of  his 
powers,  in  the  attainment  of  special  aptitude  for  any  calling,  being 
both  legitimate  and  not  injurious  to  others;  and  suppose  that  then, 
on  grounds  of  public  (or  private)  ability,  he  is  forbidden  to  exercise 
that  power  or  skill,  the  source  whence  that  prohibition  proceeds  is 
certainly  bound  to  render  compensation.  No  doubt  this  feeling  is 
in  the  minds  of  many,  and  is,  1 think,  better  founded  than  any 
other.  In  some  cases  it  may  be  well  founded.  I should  be  quite 
prepared  to  admit  it,  exceptionally,  so  far  as  providing  some  other 
opening.  As,  for  instance,  in  the  case  of  poor  widows  and  worn-out 
decrepits.  But  then  this  is  purely  exceptional,  and  must  be  so 
treated;  not  in  the  very  least  degree  touching  the  general  question. 

“ On  the  general  question  it  has  to  be  considered  that  no  special 
training  is  required  by  the  publican  ; that  in  no  calling  is  there  less 
exercise  of  any  powers,  either  bodily  or  mental — which  accounts  for 
the  fact  that  those  who  fail  in  anything  (or  everything)  else  take 
to  this ; that  any  powers  employed  in  this  could  be  better  employed 
otherwise  ; that  in  taking  away  the  licence  you  leave  untouched  the 
best  part  of  his  calling  as  hotel-keeper ; that  if  he  was  ever  fit  for 
anything  else,  he  ought  to  be  just  as  fit  for  it  now,  and  if  not  fit  for 
anything  else,  then  his  proper  place  is  some  refuge  for  the  destitute. 

“ But,  even  beyond  this — very  much  so — it  may  be  said,  with- 
out fear  of  contradiction  (it  has  repeatedly  been  said  by  many  of 
those  who  are  best  able  to  judge,  publicans  themselves),  that  any 
other  exercise  of  a man’s  powers  would  be  preferable,  better  for  the 
man  himself,  but  for  the  single  circumstance,  that  no  other  offers 
such  facilities  for  making  great  and  rapid  gains  with  very  little 
labour. 

“ It  is  impossible  to  substantiate  any  natural  right  to  the 
‘ goodwill  ’ of  the  business  ; for  if  any  right  exists,  it  must  rest  on 
social  or  legal  grounds,  since  the  business  depends  entirely  on 
society  and  the  monopoly  granted  by  law,  which  can  never  con- 
stitute natural  right. 

“ Thus,  I think,  we  have  disposed  of  the  question  of  natural 
right,  and  any  claim  to  compensation  founded  thereon.  This  is 


APPENDIX. 


491 


the  largest  and  strongest  part  of  the  question,  though  perhaps 
not  the  most  difficult,  since  natural  right  is  both  universal  and 
perpetual,  which,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  no  other  kind  of 
right  can  be. 

“ II.  What  is  the  social  or  legal  right  ? There  are  two  distinct 
ways  of  putting  this : 

“ (1)  I hardly  think  any  one  will  demur  to  this  principle  : 
That  it  is  not  just  that  law  should  confer  any  special  privilege  on 
any  man,  or  continue  him  in  the  enjoyment  of  it,  except  on  the 
ground  of  some  benefit  rendered  by  him,  as  an  equivalent  for  it. 
This  is,  indeed,  a fundamental  principle  of  all  impartial  legislation, 
as  opposed  to  class  legislation,  which  is  always  unjust.  So  perfectly 
clear  is  it,  that  no  man  ever  questions  it,  unless  his  self-interest 
comes  in  and  gives  a bias.  And,  without  exception,  the  man  who 
then  questions  it  will  be  the  first  stoutly  to  affirm  it  against  any 
other  claimant  to  be  so  exceptionally  treated.  I know  there  are 
people  who  seem  to  think  that  if  you  only  put  a wrong  thing  into 
a law,  you  make  it  right,  and  so  never  inquire  whether  the  law 
itself  is  right.  I do  not  see  much  use  in  arguing  with  such 
people  ; no  argument  ever  touches  them.  Were  they  capable  of 
seeing  an  argument,  they  would  not  need  showing  that  no  law  can 
make  a wrong  thing  right,  and  no  wrong  law  can  ever  originate  a 
legal  right.  We  are  considering  rights.  This  is  of  most  essential 
importance ; because  you  can  never  establish  a claim  until  you 
have  found  a right.  You  must  therefore  show  that  the  law  is  right 
in  granting  to  the  publican  the  special  privilege  of  the  licence. 
This  can  be  done  on  no  other  ground  than  that  of  some  benefit 
rendered  by  him.  Surely  we  have  come  to  a deadlock  in  the  way 
of  compensation  here.  Remember  the  law  has  no  right  to  confer 
a privilege  without  benefit  rendered.  No  right,  no  claim.  There- 
fore no  claim  without  benefit  rendered.  No  man  who  knows  what 
he  is  talking  about  can  deny  that  logic.  What  benefit,  then,  has 
the  publican  rendered  for  the  privilege  of  his  licence  ? It  is  useless 
to  talk  about  accommodation,  convenience,  etc.,  for  these  now  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  licence,  though  they  once  had.  With  all 
the  thousands  of  houses  of  accommodation  without  licences  ; with 
the  small  accommodation — comparatively — for  the  extent  of  the 
property,  with  licence,  it  would  be  waste  time  to  argue  on  that 
ground.  The  only  question  is,  has  the  licensed  sale  of  alcohol 
rendered  any  benefit  ? For  an  answer  to  that  question  I will  appeal 
to  others. 

“ I would  ask  the  thousands  of  judges,  magistrates,  gaolers, 
keepers  of  hospitals  and  asylums,  superintendents  of  police  and 
policemen,  who  have  borne  testimony  thousands  of  times,  that 
the  service  rendered  has  consisted  in  the  production  of  crime, 
disease,  insanity,  and  every  form  of  human  wickedness  and  misery. 
I would  ask  the  thousands  of  ministers  and  medical  men,  who 


492 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


would  answer : — the  first — that  it  is  the  great  source  of  irreligion ; 
the  second — that  it  prodigiously  and  inevitably  swells  their  pro- 
fession. I would  ask  innumerable  philanthropists  and  reformers, 
who  mournfully  lament  that  it  is  the  arch-enemy  of  all  reform  and 
of  all  benevolent  aims.  I would  ask  the  millions  of  injured  women 
and  degraded  children,  whose  bruised  bodies  and  silent  tears  would 
with  eloquent  pathos  implore  that  such  services  might  be  rendered 
no  longer.  I would  appeal  to  the  myriads  of  the  dead,  dead  through 
drink,  whose  history  is  still  vocal  with  the  anguish  and  despair 
that  found  no  utterance  from  the  living  lips.  And  I know  that 
from  this  immense  crowd  of  witnesses  would  come  the  deep,  heart- 
felt answer,  No!  The  only  service  rendered  is  recorded  in  blood 
and  tears.  And  what  privilege  can  that  justify  ? 

“ I must  keep  the  argument  fast  to  this  point.  No  service 
rendered  for  it,  the  privilege  of  monopoly  that  the  licence  confers 
on  the  publican  is  legally  and  morally  unjust.  Are  you  going  to 
compensate  a man  who  has  unjustly  enjoyed  a great  commercial 
privilege,  because  you  say  to  him,  ‘ We  can  no  longer  continue  this 
injustice  in  your  favour'?  That  is  neither  law  nor  social  equity. 
Both  would  say,  ‘ The  claim  for  compensation  lies  rather  the  other 
way.’ 

“ Mr.  Chamberlain,  M.P.  for  Birmingham,  uses  the  following 
language  in  reference  to  the  Irish  landlords  : — ‘ I cannot  conceive 
that  they  have  auy  right  to  claim  compensation  for  restriction  and 
limitation  of  powers  which  they  ought  never  to  have  been  permitted 
to  enjoy.  In  our  English  legislation  there  are  numberless  precedents 
in  which  legal  rights  have  been  found  to  be  in  conflict  with  public 
morality  and  public  interest,  and  have  been  restricted  and  limited ; 
and  I am  not  aware  of  any  such  cases  in  which  compensation  has 
been  given  to  those  who  have  been  thus  treated.’  This  is  from  an 
article  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  the  writer  of  which  is  trying  to 
disprove  Mr.  Chamberlain’s  argument.  But  the  only  case  he  brings 
forward  is  that  of  slavery;  while  I cannot  discover  in  the  article 
one  single  intelligible  position  he  takes,  still  less  makes  good,  against 
Mr.  Chamberlain’s  clear  statement. 

“ (2)  The  other  way  of  looking  at  it  is  this : A privilege  that 
the  law  bestows  the  law  can  revoke,  provided  that  no  agreement 
is  broken,  no  promise  violated,  no  understanding  set  at  nought. 
This  can  require  no  further  proof.  It  is  so  obvious  that  attempts 
are  always  made  to  bring  in  tacit  promises  or  understandings ; but 
that  cannot  be  done.  No  licence  is  perpetual.  Why  is  it  not  made 
so,  if  that  is  the  intention  ? Every  one  knows  that  a proposition  to 
grant  such  licences  would  elicit  as  indignant  a resistance  as  did 
Mr.  Gladstone’s  audacious  and  insane  proposition  to  license  railway 
carriages.  It  is  all  very  true  that  the  withholding  a licence  pre- 
viously granted  is  not  the  rule,  but  it  is  often  done,  as  recently  at 
the  Thames.  There  and  then  Mr.  Ehrenfried  claimed  damages. 


APPENDIX. 


493 


Not  a little  instructive  is  it  that  a journal,  famous  for  its  advocacy 
of  compensation,  told  us  on  that  occasion  that  if  Mr.  Ehreufried  did 
not  obtain  damages,  that  would  settle  once  for  all  the  question  of 
compensation.  We  know  he  did  not  obtain  damages.  That,  how- 
ever, did  not  settle  the  question  of  compensation ; hut  this  did : — - 
That  he  durst  not  take  his  case  into  any  court,  because  he  knew, 
as  every  one  knew,  that  neither  law,  nor  equity,  nor  social  propriety 
could  have  awarded  him  one  penny.  It  may  he  true  that  men 
presume  upon  the  renewal  of  the  licence,  just  as  they  presume  that 
a volcano  will  not  hurst  out  again  because  it  is  now  silent ; though 
it  was  silent  before  it  buried  in  ruins  or  shook  to  pieces  whole 
cities,  with  their  living  multitudes.  If  men  choose  to  presume, 
they  must  in  either  case  take  the  consequences.  It  is  a miserably 
poor  ground  for  compensation,  that  when  a man  has  met  a pro- 
bability with  his  eyes  wide  open,  the  probability  has  become  a 
reality.  I can  grant  that,  forty  years  ago,  a publican  might  plead 
very  fairly,  ‘ We  ought  to  have  some  notice  of  the  withdrawal  of 
this  privilege.’  But  I submit  that  forty  years  is  a very  liberal 
notice.  They  had  that  notice  then,  such  notice  as  all  wise  men 
observe  (in  the  signs  of  the  times),  and  it  has  been  repeated  inces- 
santly, ever  since,  underlined,  and  in  all  sorts  of  conspicuous  colours. 
If  they  will  not  take  it,  that  is  their  own  look-out.  With  the 
agitation  that  has  gone  on  for  forty  years — with  the  actual  adoption 
of  prohibition  in  almost  innumerable  places,  and  compensation  never 
thought  of  in  a single  instance — with  the  rapidly  growing  convic- 
tion that  come  it  must — with  the  admission  of  Governments  that 
something  of  the  kind  is  absolutely  essential ; if  the  trade  will  not 
accept  the  notice,  I see  not  how  any  rational  man  can  wish  to 
compensate  it  for  such  enormous  blindness  or  stupidity.  That  is 
one  advantage  of  the  gradual  progress  of  the  question — which  is  all 
that  its  advocates  desire — -that  every  man  has  due  warning.  But  if 
he  will  not  be  warned,  there  is  no  help  for  him  ; he  must  go  down 
in  the  storm  that  he  has  long  seen  coming — like  all  other  such  men 
— losing  through  his  wilfulness  what,  without  any  trouble,  he  could 
in  due  time  have  saved  from  ruin. 

“Thus  have  we  disposed  of  the  social  or  legal  right,  unless  it 
can  be  shown  to  rest  on  some  ground  that  I have  not  been  able  to 
discover. 

“ III.  I should  admit  that  there  may  he  still  higher  grounds 
on  which  this  question  should  be  considered — higher  than  either 
that  of  natural  right  or  that  of  legal  or  social  right — that  high 
moral  ground  on  which  purest  principles  of  Christian  nobleness  or 
generosity  should  control  our  conduct.  For  there  are  occasions 
when  moral  considerations  may  compel  us  to  a course  of  action 
which  could  not  on  any  ground  he  claimed  from  us  by  others.  As 
I,  an  individual,  may  feel  myself  constrained  to  conduct  which  no 
one  could  demand  of  me,  so  may  it  be  with  a community  or  a body 


494 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


of  men.  We  can  then  imagine  that  the  publicans  may  he  placed 
in  a position  such  that  we  should  feel  it  incumbent  on  us  to  make 
the  compensation  which  they  would  have  no  ground  for  claiming. 
This  was  the  ground  on  which  compensation  was  given  in  the  only 
case  brought  forward  in  this  matter — that  of  slavery.  It  is  the 
ground  on  which  it  might  be  justified,  not  as  a precedent,  but  as 
something  new  and  unexpected  in  the  world’s  history.  Since  then 
other  new  principles  have  come  to  light. 

“Supposing  a man,  shut  out  from  profitable  employment  by 
a course  of  events  involved  in  the  public  wcdfare,  under  these  con- 
ditions— that  he  has  not  had  adequate  opportunity  to  secure  himself 
against  injury  or  loss,  and  that  he  is  not  interfered  with  as  being 
knowingly  in  antagonism  to  the  public  welfare — the  highest 
principles  might  compel  us  to  proffer  compensation.  There  are 
many  such  cases  in  which,  I think,  a right  state  of  society  would 
cheerfully  afford  help  which  the  individual  could  not  claim,  and 
any  claim  to  which  would  certainly  not  be  listened  to.  But  clearly 
no  such  moral  principle  could  have  any  force  where  the  individual 
has  had  ample  opportunity  to  protect  himself,  or  where  he  is  inter- 
fered with  in  an  illegitimate  course,  i.e.,  one  opposed  to  the  public 
interests.  And  here  it  is  important  to  notice  that  in  reasoning 
from  this  higher  moral  ground  no  occupation  can  ever  be  legitimate 
that  is  opposed  to  the  public  good.  No  law  can  ever  make  it  so  ; 
and  all  the  talk  about  a legitimate  calling  or  business  is,  on  this 
ground,  quite  beside  the  mark.  When  we  are  pretending  to  stand 
on  high  moral  grounds,  to  talk  about  an  honourable  calling,  a 
legitimate  business,  which  is  ruinous  to  public  morality,  is  to  talk 
nonsense.  If,  then,  the  publican  could  show  that  he  had  not  had 
the  opportunity  of  protecting  himself  from  loss,  and  that  the  trade 
carried  on  under  the  licence  had  not  been  a public  injury,  I should 
admit  that  so  far  we  might  feel  bound  to  give  the  compensation, 
which,  however,  he  could  not  claim.  But  how  is  it  possible  that 
he  should  establish  either  of  these  conditions,  since,  as  we  have  seen, 
he  had  forty  years’  warning,  and  since  overwhelming  testimonies 
declare  his  trade  utterly  pernicious,  of  which  testimonials  he  is  not 
and  cannot  be  ignorant?  Now  it  is  not  an  advantage, and  therefore 
not  commended  by  any  moral  principle,  that  private  personal  duty 
(to  take  warning)  should  be  interfered  with  through  public  charity; 
and  it  is  an  immense  wrong,  by  any  action  whatever,  to  put  a 
premium  on  conduct  that  is  prejudicial  to  the  welfare  of  the  com- 
munity. 

“ That  is  one  view.  But  there  is  another,  as  we  have  seen  from 
the  question,  Who  should  compensate?  The  suggestion  which  has 
been  made,  that  the  trade  should  compensate  its  exiled  members, 
has  everything  in  its  favour,  and  should,  as  it  probably  will,  secure 
consideration  ; but  that  is  hardly  the  compensation  that  is  asked  for. 

“ Or,  again,  if  it  were  possible  for  those  who  consider  that  they 


APPENDIX. 


495 


have  received  benefit  from  the  publican,  and  are  therefore  under 
some  obligation  to  him,  it  might  be  well  enough  that  they,  in  dis- 
pensing with  his  services,  should  give  some  compensation.  But  it 
is  to  be  feared  it  would  be  but  small.  But  certainly  not  that  the 
public  should — more  than  half  of  whom  repudiate  his  services,  and 
consider  themselves  grievously  injured  by  it.  To  take  their  money 
to  compensate  the  publican  is  a far  more  immoral  act  than  to  with- 
hold from  the  publican  that  to  which  he  never  really  had  any 
right.  Looking  at  things  from  the  higher  moral  teachings,  there  is 
nothing  for  which  men  may  be  so  severely  condemned  as  the  reck- 
less use  of  public  money.  But  all  use  of  it  is  such  which  leaves 
out  of  consideration  the  object  for  which,  and  the  true  interests  of 
the  parties  from  whom,  it  was  raised.  When,  then,  we  bring 
together  the  injury  inflicted  on  adjacent  property  by  granting  the 
licence,  the  injury  inflicted  on  the  public  by  the  exercise  of  the 
licence,  and  that  all  the  gains  made  under  the  licence  are  made  at 
the  expense  of  the  public,  there  is  not  a single  moral  principle  that 
would  not  pronounce  it  an  enormous  crime  against  the  public  to 
take  public  money  to  compensate  the  trade  for  being  hindered  from 
continuing  this  prodigious  depredation  on  public  property.  Nor  do 
I think  that  any  one  dispassionately  looking  into  these  definite 
points  could  well  come  to  any  other  conclusion — a conclusion  not 
generally  reached  only  because  few  people  will  take  the  trouble  to 
examine  with  care  the  ground  on  which  they  stand. 

“ IV.  Here  I might  close  the  argument,  but  that  some  might 
think  I ought  to  take  more  notice  of  the  two  points,  neither  of 
which,  however,  form  an  essential  part  of  the  argument,  of  policy 
and  precedent.  To  the  question  whether  it  might  be  politic,  though 
not  just,  to  give  the  compensation  in  question,  I should  reply  that 
there  maybe  cases  in  which  a wise  policy  takes  even  higher  ground 
than  that  of  exact  or  abstract  justice ; but  in  no  case,  especially 
where  the  public  is  concerned,  can  it  violate  the  principles  of  justice, 
as  it  undoubtedly  would  in  this  case. 

“As  to  precedents,  I am  not  aware  of  any  in  favour  of  com- 
pensation except  that  one  often  referred  to,  of  slavery  in  the  West 
Indies.  But  the  force  of  that,  as  an  example  for  this,  completely 
fails,  inasmuch  as  there  compensation  was  given  for  property 
actually  taken  away  or  destroyed  as  property — the  slaves.  There 
is  nothing  of  the  kind  here.  Nor  is  it  in  the  least  likely  that  that 
experiment  of  the  £20,000  would  be  so  much  as  suggested  by  any 
one  in  this  day  ; an  experiment  signally  reversed  in  the  case  of  the 
Southern  States  of  America.  The  crime  of  slave-holding  is  better 
understood  to-day.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  precedents  against 
compensation  are  simply  innumerable  and  overwhelming.  I have 
already  referred  to  the  number  of  cases  in  which  the  trade  is  sup- 
pressed, without  any  thought  of  compensation — Sunday  closing. 
Constant  changes  in  trade  destroy  the  livings  of  thousands  upon 


496 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


thousands,  who  never  get  a penny  of  compensation.  Railways  shut 
up  hosts  of  roadside  houses,  destroy  the  property  of  coach  proprietors 
and  drivers.  Nuisances  of  all  sorts  are  suppressed  with  great  loss 
to  those  who  profited  by  them.  Personal  inconveniences  are  con- 
stantly inflicted  on  individuals  where  the  public  good  requires  it — 
far  too  numerous  even  to  name — compensation  in  no  case  being 
allowed.  That  the  principle  is  as  well  established  as  any  known 
law,  an  exceptional  departure  from  it  being  asked  only  for  this 
beneficent  trade. 

“ And  now  to  sum  up  our  case  for  the  jury.  They  would  be 
asked  for  a verdict  on  these  points : — 

“ Can  the  trade  establish  any  valid  right,  on  any  ground,  natural, 
legal,  or  moral,  for  the  enjoyment  of  a monopoly  privilege,  of  great 
commercial  value,  to  the  unlimited  injury  of  the  public  ? 

“ Is  any  right  violated  or  wrong  done  by  revoking  this  privilege, 
on  the  ground  of  this  injury? 

“ Can  any  claim  for  compensation  exist  where  no  right  is  violated 
and  no  wrong  done  ? 

“ On  each  point  the  verdict  would  be  given,  without  further 
consideration,  against  the  plaintiff. 

“ The  whole  history  of  this  melancholy  question  of  alcohol, 
written  not  by  me,  but  by  others  who  could  not  falsify,  in  deepest 
black  or  intensest  scarlet,  suggests  a different  solution  of  the  problem. 
If  the  trade  generally — following  the  example  of  an  extremely 
minute  fraction  of  it — listening  to  the  reiterated  condemnation  of 
the  highest  unimpeachable  judges — looking  on  the  horrible  deeds 
done — could  rise  slightly  above  that  contemptible  measure  of  things, 
money  value — contemptible  when  put  in  the  scales  against  physical 
health,  prolonged  life,  uncorrupted  character,  pure  hearts,  strong 
minds,  peaceful  homes,  honour  in  the  Government,  integrity  in  the 
people — it  might  appear  not  so  very  great  an  act  of  self-sacrifice  to 
say : For  the  world’s  good  we  will  voluntarily  renounce  the  gains 
that  have  never  seemed  to  us  perfectly  clean.  And  whether  or  not 
compensation  came  in  the  shape  of  money,  it  would  have  a ten 
times  better  justification  than  it  has  now,  while  it  would  assuredly 
come  in  the  shape  of  respectful  admiration  of  a deed  well  done,  and 
the  still  better  form  of  a sense  of  living  and  working  for  the  world’s 
progress,  instead  of  its  deterioration.  But  if  these  have  little  or  no 
weight,  there  remains  but  the  single  alternative — that  what  is  not 
voluntarily  surrendered  will,  sooner  or  later,  cease  at  the  stern 
command  of  social,  mental,  moral  necessity ; as  some  one,  able  to 
form  a judgment,  has  said  to  mankind — ‘If  you  will  not  destroy 
the  liquor  traffic,  it  will  destroy  you.’  Every  principle  of  human 
nature  and  of  the  right  constitution  of  things  must  alter,  or  every 
day  that  more  reveals  that  startling  but  inevitable  fact  puts  com- 
pensation (to  the  destroyer  of  humanity)  still  lower  down  among 
the  things  never  to  be  thought  of.” 


APPENDIX. 


497 


[The  foregoing  paper  was  read  at  a Conference  of  Temperance 
Workers,  held  in  the  Temperance  Hall,  Albert  Street,  Auckland, 
New  Zealand,  on  Friday,  February  10,  1882,  and  is  published  by 
the  Auckland  Total  Abstinence  Society,  in  compliance  with  resolu- 
tion passed  at  Conference.] 


PREFACE  TO  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


In  researches  for  the  foregoing  work  the  want  of  a bibliography  on 
the  drink  question  was  very  much  felt,  the  only  attempts  at  such 
worth  mentioning — so  far  as  I could  ascertain  within  the  short 
time  at  my  command — being  Dr.  Joseph  Frank’s  Praxeos  Mcdicince, 
Leipsiffi,  1818 ; Prof.  Gustav  Friedrich  Klemm’s  Allegemeine 
Culturwissenschaft  (11  B.),  Leipzig ; 1855,  Raige-Delorme  et 
Dechambre’s  Dictionnaire  Encyclopedique  des  Sciences  Medicates 
(tome  ii.),  Paris,  1865;  and  the  Index-Catalogue  of  the  library  of 
the  Surgeon-general’s  office,  U.S.  Army  (vol  i.),  Washington,  1880. 
But  these  are  very  inadequate,  and  therefore  I hope  that  the  follow- 
ing bibliography — consisting  almost  wholly  of  works  which  I have 
examined  in  preparing  my  hook — though  neither  exhaustive  nor 
critical,  may  do  something  to  assist  future  researches  on  this  great 
question. 

The  great  bulk  of  the  writings  are  of  a scientific  character, 
though  many  dealing  with  the  historical,  political,  social,  and 
religious  aspects  of  the  question  have  been  included.  A few 
allegories  have  been  entered ; but  works  of  fiction,  as  well  as  special 
writings  on  the  manufacture  and  adulteration  of  alcoholic  drinks, 
have  been  as  a rule  excluded. 

For  the  convenience  of  the  reader,  the  works  have  been  arranged 
according  to  countries,  thus : — Great  Britain  and  the  Colonies,  the 
United  States,  Germany  and  France ; the  smaller  countries  in 
alphabetical  order,  except  Mexico.  The  works  under  each  country 
have  been  placed  chronologically,  with  the  authors’  names  under 
each  year,  alphabetically.  This  rule  has  been  followed  strictly 
except  in  cases  where  more  than  one  work  of  an  author  is  included, 
when  all  his  works  are  grouped  under  the  earliest  one  ; and,  in  order 
to  make  it  as  easy  to  find  any  such  work  as  if  it  were  placed 


500 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


chronologically,  I have  prefixed  to  the  bibliography  a list  of  the 
names  (occurring  under  the  head  of  Great  Britain,  etc.)  of  writers 
having  more  than  one  work  inserted,  with  the  year  of  the  first, 
under  which  all  the  rest  of  the  same  author  will  be  found. 

As  regards  Great  Britain  and  the  Colonies,  I have  endeavoured 
to  give  as  complete  a list  as  possible,  in  the  time  at  my  disposal,  of 
works  appearing  previous  to  1870.  Since  then  their  number  is 
legion,  and  some  selection  was  indispensable.  For  brevity’s  sake, 
titles  have  been  shortened,  and  writers  have  been  distinguished 
simply  by  Rev.  if  clerical,  by  Dr.  if  medical,  and  by  Sir  when 
knighted.  Now  and  then  a Prof,  has  been  used,  and  specially 
characteristic  or  well-known  titles,  as  in  the  case  of  Archdeacon 
Jeffries. 

Current  temperance  literature,  i.e.,  newspapers  and  journals,  have 
been  omitted,  except  when  there  have  been  some  special  reasons  for 
their  insertion.  A large  number  of  works  for  which  no  date  could 
be  found  have  been  excluded.  Many  are  not  in  the  British 
Museum,  but  those  which  are  there  have  been  titled  according  to 
its  catalogue.  In  the  preparation  of  the  bibliography  I have  been 
most  kindly  assisted  by  Mr.  Garnett  and  Mr.  Eccles,  of  the 
British  Museum ; and  by  Mr.  T.  H.  Evans,  at  the  National  Temper- 
ance League  publication  depot;  but  for  valuable  and  constant 
services,  much  beyond  what  I could  justly  claim  because  of  his 
position,  I am  indebted  to  Mr.  John  P.  Anderson,  assistant  librarian, 
of  the  British  Museum. 


hors  of  more  than  one  work. 

Tear  of  first  work. 

Anstie,  Dr.  Francis 

...  1862 

Armstrong,  Dr.  John 

1744 

Baker,  Rev.  W.  R.  ... 

...  1838 

Beddoes,  Dr.  Thomas 

1793 

Biggs,  Thomas 

...  1849 

Binz,  Prof.  Carl 

1873 

Blacke,  Dr.  A. 

...  1823 

Browne,  Rev.  Peter 

1713 

Buckingham,  J.  Silk 

...  1834 

Burne,  Peter  ... 

1847 

Burns,  Rev.  Dawson 

...  1840 

Carpenter,  Dr.  William 

1847 

Cheyne,  Dr.  George 

1725 

Couling,  Samuel 

1862 

Cruikshank,  William 

...  1847 

Dearden,  Joseph 

1840 

Denman,  James  L. 

...  1865 

PREFACE  TO  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


501 


of  more  than  one  work. 

Year  of  first  w 

Dunlop,  John 

...  1828 

Edgar,  Rev.  John 

1829 

Edmunds,  Dr.  James 

...  1867 

Ellison,  Rev.  H.  J. 

1869 

Evans,  T.  H. 

...  1882 

Forbes,  Sir  John 

1847 

French,  Rev.  R.  V. 

...  1877 

Garrod,  Dr.  Alfred  Baring 

1859 

Gilmore,  Rev.  A. 

...  1841 

Green,  Samuel 

1848 

Guthrie,  Rev.  Thomas 

...  1850 

Hales,  Rev.  Stephen 

1734 

Hall,  Dr.  Newman  ... 

...  1844 

Henry,  Rev.  William 

1761 

Higginbottom,  Dr.  John 

...  1842 

Hoyle,  William 

1864 

Inwards,  Jabez 

...  1849 

Jeffries,  Archdeacon 

1840 

J.  H. 

...  1829 

Kerr,  Dr.  Norman 

1876 

Kirk,  Rev.  John 

...  1862 

Kirton,  J.  W.  ... 

1865 

Lees,  Dr.  F.  R. 

...  1841 

Lewis,  David  ... 

1859 

Livesey,  Joseph 

...  1832 

Logan,  William 

1849 

Lucas,  Dr.  Thomas  P. 

...  1874 

Lush,  W.  J.  H. 

1873 

Marcet,  Dr.  William 

...  1860 

Miller,  Dr.  James 

1857 

Montagu,  Dr.  Basil  .. . 

...  1814 

Mudge,  Dr.  Henry 

1848 

Munroe,  Dr.  Henry 

...  1865 

Ogston,  Dr.  F. 

1883 

Parkes,  Dr.  Edmund  A. 

...  1870 

Physician,  By  a 

1829 

Prichard,  Dr.  James  Cowles  ... 

...  1835 

Reade,  Arthur  A. 

1883 

Reid,  Rev.  William 

...  1850 

Richardson,  Dr.  B.  W.  ... 

1875 

Ridge,  Dr.  J.  J. 

...  1879 

Richie,  Rev.  William 

1855 

Russom,  J. 

...  1849 

Sherlock,  Frederick 

1879 

Short,  Dr.  Thomas  ... 

...  1750 

Smith,  Dr.  Edward 

1860 

Taylor,  John 

...  1635 

Tryon,  Thomas 

1682 

Wightman,  Mrs. 

...  1860 

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GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  COLONIES. 

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1568. 

Stubbes,  Philip,  The  Anatomies  of  Abuse.  1583. 

Ullrnus,  John  Francis,  De  Ebrietate  Fugienda.  1589. 

Nash,  Thomas,  Summer’s  Last  Will  and  Testament.  A Drama 
performed  before  Queen  Elizabeth.  ( Temperance  Worker, 
vol.  13,  p.  99.)  London,  1592. 

Foulface,  William  (pseud.),  Bacchus  Bountie ; describing  the 
debonaire  deitie  of  his  bountiful  Godhead  in  the  royall  obser- 
vance of  his  great  Feast  of  Penticost.  (Harleian  Miscellany, 
vol.  2,  1744.)  1594. 

Thompson,  Thomas,  Diet  for  a Drunkard.  London,  1612. 

Downame,  John,  Foure  treatises  tending  to  disswade  all  Christians 
from  . . . Swearing,  Drunkenness,  etc.  London,  1613. 

Brathwaite,  JR.,  A Solemne  Joviall  Disputation,  Theoreticke  and 
Practicke,  briefely  shadowing  the  Law  of  Drinking,  etc. 
CEnogythopolis,  At  the  Signe  of  the  Bed  Eyes.  1617. 

Young,  Thomas,  England’s  Bane.  London,  1617. 

Hornby,  William,  The  Scourge  of  Drunkenness.  London,  1619. 

Burton,  Bobert,  Anatomy  of  Melancholy.  Oxford,  1621. 

Dent,  Daniel,  A Sermon  against  Drunkenness.  Cambridge,  1628. 

Gallobelgicus  (pseud.),  Wine,  Beere,  and  Ale  together  by  the  Eares, 
a Dialogue,  etc.  London,  1629. 

Harris,  Rev.  Robert,  The  Drunkard’s  Cup.  (A  sermon  on  Isaiah, 
chap.  v.  11-18.)  London,  1630. 

Randolph,  Thomas,  Aristippus,  a Play  so  called.  With  a Dialogue 
between  Wine,  Ale,  Beere,  and  Tobacco,  by  another  hand. 
London,  1632. 

Heywood,  Thomas,  Philocothonista,  or  the  Drunkard,  opened,  dis- 
sected, and  anatomized.  London,  1635. 


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THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Taylor,  John  (the  water-poet),  The  old,  old,  very  old  man ; or, 
“ the  age  ” and  long  life  of  Thomas  Parr.  London,  1635. 

, Drink e and  Welcome;  or,  the  famous  Historie  of  the  most 

part  of  Drinkes  in  use.  1637. 

■ Ale  Ale-vated  into  the  Ale-titude ; or,  Al-earned  oration 

before  a civil  assembly  of  Ale-drinkers,  etc.  London,  1651. 

Speagle,  H.  van  {pseud.),  Drink  and  Welcome.  London,  1637. 

Whitaker,  Dr.  Tobias,  The  Tree  of  human  life ; or,  the  bloud  oi  the 
Grape.  London,  1638. 

Mulled-Sack.  The  Times  Abuses ; or,  Mulled-Sacke  his  grievance, 
etc.  London,  1640. 

A Cup  of  Sack.  London,  1644. 

Brewer’s  Plea,  The ; or,  a Vindication  of  Strong  Beer  and  Ale,  wherein 
is  declared  the  wonderful  bounty  and  patience  of  God ; the 
wicked  and  monstrous  unthankfulness  of  man ; the  unregarded 
injuries  done  to  these  creatures,  groaning  as  it  were  to  be 
delivered  from  the  abuses  proceeding  from  disdainful  aspersions 
of  ignorant,  and  from  the  intemperance  of  sinful  man.  London, 
1647. 

Geree,  Rev.  John,  0ei< papfxaKov.  A divine  potion  to  preserve  spirituall 
health,  by  the  cure  of  unnaturall  health-drinking.  Written 
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parliament  man.  London,  1648. 

Looking-glasse  for  a Drunkard.  London,  1652. 

Rigby,  Joseph,  An  ingenious  poem  called  the  drunkard’s  prospective 
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Tonge,  R.,  The  Blemish  of  the  Government,  the  Shame  of  Religion, 
the  Disgrace  of  Mankind ; or,  a charge  drawn  up  against 
drunkards  and  presented  to  His  Highness  the  Lord  Protector,  in 
the  name  of  all  the  Sober  Party  in  the  three  nations,  etc. 
London,  1658. 

Rrynne,  Wm.,  The  odious  sin  of  drinking  healths,  with  a brief  of 
Mr.  Pryn’s  solid  arguments  against  it.  London,  1660. 

Jones,  Andrew,  The  dreadful  character  of  a drunkard;  or,  the  most 
odious  and  beastly  sin  of  drunkenness  described  and  condemned. 
London,  1663. 

Digby,  Sir  Kenelm,  Receipts  of  surgery  and  physick,  also  of 
cordial  and  distilled  waters  and  spirits.  London,  1665. 

Charleton,  Dr.  Walter,  A discourse  of  the  various  sicknesses  of 
wines.  London,  1668. 

Faber,  A.  0.,  Some  kindling  sparks  in  matters  of  physick.  London, 
1668. 

Frinus,  D.,  A new  and  needful  treatise  of  spirits  and  wine 
offending  man’s  body.  London,  1668. 

Bury,  Edward,  England’s  Bane ; or,  the  deadly  danger  of  drunken- 
ness. London,  1677. 

Elscholt,  J.  S.,  The  Curious  Distillatory;  or,  the  Art  of  Distilling 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


505 


Coloured  Liquors,  Spirits,  Oils,  etc.,  from  Vegetables,  Animals, 
Minerals,  and.  Metals,  a thing  hitherto  known  to  few.  London, 

1677. 

Temple,  Sir  William,  Miscellanea,  Part  I.  An  Essay  upon  the 
cure  of  gout  by  moxa.  London,  1677. 

Russel,  Richard,  The  Works  of  Geher  (Jabeer  ibn  Ilayyan),  the 
most  famous  Arabian  prince  and  philosopher.  London, 

1678. 

A Warning  Piece  to  the  slothful,  idle,  careless,  drunken,  etc. 
London,  1678. 

Darby,  C.,  Bacchanalia;  or,  a description  of  a drunken  club. 
London,  1680. 

Jole,  William,  A warning  to  drunkards.  London,  1680. 

Tryon,  Thomas,  A treatise  of  cleanliness  in  meats  and  drinks,  of 
the  preparation  of  food.  London,  1682. 

, Health’s  grand  preservative;  or,  the  Woman’s  best  doctor.  A 

treatise  showing  the  nature  of  brandy  and  other  distilled 
spirits,  etc.  London,  1682. 

{pseud.,  Physiologus  Fhilotheos),  The  way  to  make  all  people 

rich  ; or,  Wisdom’s  ball  to  Temperance  and  Frugality.  London, 
1685. 

, A new  method  of  educating  children.  London,  1695. 

, Wisdom’s  dictates;  or,  aphorisms  and  rules  . . . for  pre- 
serving the  health  of  the  body.  London,  1696. 

, The  way  to  save  wealth.  London,  1697. 

, The  way  to  health,  long  life,  and  happiness,  or  a discourse 

of  temperance  and  the  . . . things  requisite  for  the  life  of 
man.  London,  1697. 

, Letters  upon  several  occasions.  (Letter  37,  Of  Fermentation.) 

London,  1700. 

Ward,  Rev.  Samuel,  A warning-piece  to  all  drunkards  and  health- 
drinkers,  faithfully  collected  from  the  works  of  Mr.  S.  W. 
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Maynwaring,  Everard,  The  method  and  means  of  enjoying  health, 
vigour,  and  long  life.  London,  1683. 

The  great  evil  of  health-drinking.  1684. 

M.  G.  ( Gent .),  the  Praise  of  Yorkshire  Ale,  wherein  is  enumerated 
several  sorts  of  drink,  with  a description  of  the  humours  of 
most  sorts  of  drunkards.  York,  1685. 

Scrivener,  Matthew,  A Treatise  against  drunkenesse,  etc.  London, 
1685. 

Glauber,  J.  R.,  The  Works  of,  containing  great  variety  of  choice 
Secrets  in  medicine  and  alchymy,  in  the  working  of  metallick 
mines,  and  the  separation  of  metals,  also  cheap  and  easy  ways 
of  making  saltpetre,  and  improving  of  barren  land,  and  the 
fruits  of  the  earth,  etc.  1689. 

A Dialogue  between  Claret  and  Derby-ale.  London,  1692. 


50  G 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Drinking — Fatal  Friendship;  or,  the  drunkard’s  misery,  being  a 
satyr  against  hard  drinking,  by  the  author  of  the  search  after 
claret.  (A  Poem.)  1692. 

Ames,  R.,  Bacchanalian  sessions ; or,  the  contention  of  liquors. 
London,  1693. 

Hartman,  G.,  The  true  preserver  and  restorer  of  health,  with  ex- 
cellent directions  for  cooking,  preserving,  conserving,  making 
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Baynard,  Dr.  Edward,  Biographical  notices  of  water-drinkers.  1706. 

Piaymand,  Dr.  Edward,  Discourse  on  longevity.  1706. 

Anon.,  A Dissuasive  from  the  sin  of  drunkenness,  by  a member  of 
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, A Discourse  of  drinking  healths,  wherein  the  great  evil  of 

this  prevailing  custom  is  shewn,  etc.  1716. 

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, An  Essay  on  the  nature  and  methods  of  treating  the  gout. 

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the  disorders  of  the  mind  depending  on  the  body.  London, 
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Disney,  Rev.  John,  A view  of  ancient  laws,  against  immorality 
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Braiihwaite,  George,  The  nation’s  reproach  and  the  Church’s  grief: 
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frequent  taverns  and  publick  houses,  etc.  London,  1733. 

Hales,  Rev.  Stephen,  Friendly  admonition  to  the  drinkers  of 
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, On  Yeutilators,  vol.  ii.  London,  1740. 

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distilled,  and  spirituous  liquors.  London,  1750. 

Johnson’s  Debates.  London,  1742. 


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507 


James,  Dr.  D.,  Pharmacopoeia  Universalis.  London,  1743. 

Armstrong,  Dr.  John,  The  art  of  preserving  health.  London,  1744. 

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Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  vol.  i.  pp.  1,  58,  146.)  1813. 

Millies,  Dr.  S.,  Medical  essays  and  observations,  abridged  from 
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Smith,  George,  The  Art  of  Distilling.  1749. 

Eolleston,  S.,  Oivos  KpiSivos.  A dissertation  concerning  the  origin 
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Short,  Dr.  Thomas,  A discourse  on  tea,  sugar,  milk,  made-wines, 
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, a General  Treatise  on  various  cold  mineral  waters  in  England. 

Sheffield,  1765. 

Burgh,  James,  A warning  to  dram  drinkers.  1751. 

Baalzebub  (pseud.),  An  oration  delivered  before  an  audience  of 
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Wesley,  Rev.  John,  The  use  of  money.  London,  1760. 

Henry,  Rev.  William,  Earnest  Addresses  to  the  people  against 
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, A New  Year’s  gift  to  dram  drinkers,  being  an  earnest  address 

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Dossie,  Robert,  An  essay  on  spirituous  liquors  with  regard  to  their 
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Harwood,  Rev.  Edward,  Of  temperance  and  intemperance,  their 
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Barry,  Sir  Edward,  Bart.,  Observations,  historical,  critical,  and 
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Hemingston,  John  Leedes,  Observation  on  the  medical  practice  of 
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Trotter,  Dr.  Thomas,  De  Ebrietate  ejusque  Effectibus  in  Corpus 
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, An  essay  ...  on  drunkenness  and  its  effects  on  the  human 

body.  London,  1804. 

Lettsom,  John  Coakley,  History  of  some  of  the  effects  of  hard 
drinking.  London,  1789. 

Bell,  Dr.  John,  Observations  on  the  mode  of  action  of  spirituous 
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Beddoes,  Dr.  Thomas,  A Guide  for  self-preservation  and  parental 
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508 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


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Beddoes,  Dr.  Thomas,  Good  advice  for  the  husbandman  in  harvest. 
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The  Evils  of  Grocers’  and  Shopkeepers’  Licences.  London,  1883. 
Paterson,  Dr.  H.  Sinclair,  Life,  function,  health.  London,  1884. 
Sharman,  H.  R.,  A cloud  of  witnesses  against  grocers’  licences. 
London,  1884. 

Spriggs- Smith,  Rev.,  The  Burton  brewers  and  the  clergy.  London, 
1884. 

Russell,  T.  W.,  A social  experiment ; or,  five  years  before  and 
after  Sunday  closing  in  Ireland.  Dublin,  1884. 


UNITED  STATES. 

Protest  of  the  Society  of  Friends  against  the  drink  at  Funerals.  1760. 

Anon.,  The  mighty  destroyer  displayed  in  some  account  of  the 
dreadful  havock  made  by  the  mistaken  uses  as  well  as  abuse 
of  distilled  spirituous  liquors.  (By  a lover  of  mankind.) 
Philadelphia,  1774. 

First  Continental  Congress  recommended  the  Colonies  to  put  an 
end  to  the  " pernicious  practice  of  distilling  grain.”  1774. 

Benezet,  Anthony,  Remarks  on  the  nature  and  bad  effects  of 
spirituous  liquors.  Philadelphia,  Pa.  1778. 

200  farmers  protested  against  the  use  of  liquors  in  their  farm 
work,  and  formed  the  first  Temperance  Society  of  modern  times 
at  Litchfield,  Conn.  1779. 

A conference  of  Methodist  churches  held  at  Baltimore,  April  24, 
adopted  the  following : — “ Do  we  disapprove  of  the  practice  of 
distilling  grain  into  liquor  ? Shall  we  disown  our  friends  who 
will  not  renounce  the  practice?  Yes.”  1780. 

The  conference  which  organized  the  M.  E.  Church  of  America 
assembled  at  Baltimore,  Ma.,  December  27.  It  adopted  “ Mr. 
Wesley’s  original  rule”  forbidding  “drunkenness,  buying  or 
selling  spirituous  liquors,  or  drinking  them,  unless  in  cases  of 
extreme  necessity,”  as  published  in  The  Discipline  for  the 
Churches.  1784. 


532  THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 

A volume  of  sermons  on  temperance,  apparently  written  by  a 
physician,  believed  to  have  been  by  Dr.  Kush.  Philadelphia, 
Pa.  1790. 

Rush,  Dr.  Benjamin,  An  inquiry  into  the  effects  of  spirituous 
liquors.  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  1793. 

, Inquiry  into  the  effects  of  ardent  spirits  upon  the  human 

body  and  mind.  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  1794. 

[The  views  of  Dr.  Rush  had  been  given  for  years  in  his 
medical  lectures,  and  large  editions  of  this  book  were 
published  in  1804  and  1811.] 

Porter,  Rev.  Elenezer,  Fatal  effects  of  ardent  spirits.  Washington, 
Conn.,  1806. 

Humphrey,  Rev.  Heman,  Address  on  temperance  to  the  Fairfield 
Co.  Association.  Fairfield,  Conn.,  1813. 

Cleveland,  Parker,  Address  on  the  suppression  of  intemperance. 
Boston,  Mass.,  1814. 

Kirkland,  Rev.  John  T.,  Sermon  before  the  Massachusetts  Temper- 
ance Society.  Boston,  Mass.,  1814. 

Allot,  Rev.  A.,  Sermon  before  the  Massachusetts  Society.  Boston, 
Mass.,  1815. 

Appleton,  Rev.  J.,  Sermon  before  the  Massachusetts  Society. 
Boston,  Mass.,  1816. 

Read,  Dr.  Alexander,  An  Address  delivered  before  the  New  Bedford 
Auxiliary  Society  for  the  suppression  of  intemperance,  at  their 
Annual  Meeting,  January  6,  1817,  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  1817. 

Worcester,  Rev.  Samuel,  The  drunkard  a destroyer.  Boston,  Mass., 
1817. 

Cogswell,  Rev.  William,  Discourse  delivered  before  the  Dedham 
Auxiliary  Society.  Dedham,  Mass.,  1818. 

Nichols,  Andrew,  Address  delivered  in  Danvers  before  the  Society 
for  suppressing  intemperance.  Salem,  Mass.,  1819. 

Hertell,  Thomas,  Expose  of  the  cause  of  intemperate  drinkings,  etc. 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  1819. 

Jonks,  Rev.  W.,  Sermons  before  the  Massachusetts  Society.  Boston, 
1821. 

Proctor,  J.  W.,  Address  on  temperance.  Danvers,  Mass.,  1821. 

Warren,  Henry,  Sermon  delivered  at  Koxburg  before  the  Roxburg 
Auxiliary  Society.  Boston,  Mass.,  1821. 

Bronson,  Salmon,  A Mirror  for  Christian  poisoners,  legal  swindlers, 
their  associates  and  abettors.  New  York,  1823. 

Nott,  Rev.  Samuel,  Sermon  on  intemperance.  Galwav,  New  York, 
1823. 

Warren,  Albott,  Address  on  temperance.  Danvers,  Mass.,  1S23. 

Ware,  Rev.  Henry,  Criminality  of  intemperance.  Boston,  Mass.,  1832. 

Edwards,  Rev.  Justin,  The  Well-conducted  farm ; a tract  on 
farming  carried  on  without  the  use  of  stimulants.  Andover, 
Mass.,  1825. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


533 


Edwards,  Rev.  Justin,  A Temperance  manual.  New  York. 

Ware,  Dr.  John,  Address  before  Massachusetts  Peace  Society. 
Boston,  Mass.,  1825. 

Beecher,  Rev.  Lyman,  Six  sermons  on  the  nature,  signs,  evils,  and 
remedy  of  intemperance.  Litchfield,  Conn.,  1826. 

Bradford,  Gamaliel,  Address  before  the  Massachusetts  Society. 
Boston,  1826. 

Chapin,  Rev.  Calvin,  of  Rocky  Hill,  Conn.,  Entire  abstinence  the 
only  infallible  antidote.  (A  series  of  essays  published  in 
the  Connecticut  Observer,  1826.) 

Stuart,  Rev.  Moses,  An  essay  upon  the  Wines  and  strong  drinks 
of  the  ancient  Hebrews,  etc.  (Prize  Essay.)  New  York,  1826. 

, Teetotalism  weighed  in  the  balances.  New  York,  1837. 

Weems,  A.,  Peter  and  John  Hay.  (A  Tract.)  1826. 

Yale,  Rev.  C.,  Sermon  on  intemperance.  Williamstown,  Mass., 
1826. 

Bannantyne,  J.,  Intemperance  among  literary  men.  Portland, 
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The  National  Philanthropist.  (A  weekly.)  Motto:  Moderate 
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ness. It  was  the  first  temperance  paper  ever  published  in 
the  world.  Issued  April  1st,  1826.  Publisher,  Rev.  William 
Collier,  Baptist  minister  in  Boston,  Mass.  Mr.  William  Lloyd 
Garrison  was  its  editor. 

Palfrey,  John  G.,  Discourses  on  intemperance.  Boston,  Mass.,  1827. 

Mussey,  R.  D.,  An  address  on  ardent  spirits,  read  before  the  New 
Hampshire  Medical  Society  at  their  annual  meeting  (June  5, 
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, Essay  on  ardent  spirits  and  its  substitutes  as  a means  of 

invigorating  health.  Washington,  1835. 

, Alcohol  in  health  and  disease.  Cincinnati,  1856. 

Hitchcock,  Prof.  Edward,  Dyspepsia  forestalled  and  resisted ; or, 
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Medical  Opinions.  Report  of  New  lrork  Temperance  Society. 
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Ware,  John,  Remarks  on  the  history  and  treatment  of  delirium 
tremens.  Boston,  Mass.,  1831. 

Gillpatrick,  James,  The  nature  and  remedy  of  intemperance. 
Boston,  1832. 

Beaumont,  Dr.  William,  Experiments  and  observations  on  the 
gastric  juice  and  the  physiology  of  digestion.  Plattsburg, 
New  York,  1833. 

Bell,  Dr.,  Address  to  the  Medical  Students’  Temperance  Society  of 
Pennsylvania.  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  1833. 

Fox,  Thomas  B.,  Traffic  in  ardent  spirits;  an  argument  against 
the  manufacture  and  sale  of  ardent  spirits  as  a drink.  Dover, 
1833, 


534 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


Allen,  Jonathan  A.,  An  essay  on  the  use  of  narcotic  substances. 
Middlebury,  1835. 

Harvey,  Dr.,  Prize  essay  on  heredity  from  drink.  Washington, 
D.  C.,  1835. 

Lindsly,  H.,  An  essay  on  the  origin  and  introduction  into  medical 
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1835. 

Baird,  History  of  the  temperance  societies  of  the  United  States. 

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Channing,  Rev.  William  Ellery,  An  address  on  temperance. 
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Abbot,  John  Slavens  Cabot,  Lecture  on  the  licence  laws.  London, 
1838. 

Bacon,  Rev.  Leonard,  Discourse  on  the  traffic  in  spirituous  liquors. 
New  Haven,  Coun.,  1838. 

Kirk,  Rev.  E.  N.,  The  Temperance  Reformation  connected  with  the 
revival  of  religion  and  the  introduction  of  the  millennium. 
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Nott,  Rev.  Eliphalet,  Lectures  on  Bible  temperance.  (Delivered  at 
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Kemp,  John,  The  difficult  arrest,  fair  trial,  just  sentence,  and  un- 
fortunate liberation  of  Sir  John  Barleycorn  (pp.  15).  Boston, 
about  1840. 

Sewell,  Prof.  Thomas,  The  pathology  of  drunkenness ; or,  the 
physical  effects  of  alcoholic  drinks,  etc.  Albany,  New  York, 
1841. 

Gale,  James,  A loDg  voyage  in  a leaky  ship ; or,  forty  years’  cruise 
in  tbe  sea  of  intemperance,  being  an  account  of  some  of  the 
principal  incidents  in  the  life  of  an  inebriate.  Written  by 
himself.  Cambridgeport,  1842. 

Gough,  John  B.,  An  autobiography.  Boston,  1845. 

Clark,  J.  H.,  The  present  position  and  aims  of  the  temperance 
enterprise.  (Prize  essay.)  New  York,  1847. 

Bouton,  N.,  History  of  the  temperance  reform  in  Concord.  Concord, 

1848. 

Kitchel,  Rev.  Harvey  D.,  An  appeal  to  the  people  for  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  liquor  traffic.  (Prize  essajn)  New  York,  1848. 
Marsh,  Rev.  John,  A discourse  on  the  extent  and  evils  of  the 
Sunday  liquor  traffic  in  cities.  New  York,  1848. 

Warren,  J.  C.,  The  physiological  effects  of  alcoholic  drinks. 
Boston,  1848. 

Jewett,  Charles,  Speeches,  etc.,  on  temperance.  Boston,  Mass., 

1849. 

Remarks  on  the  use  of  alcohol  for  the  preparation  of  medicines. 
Boston,  1849. 

Alger,  William  R.,  The  facts  of  intemperance  and  their  claims  on 
the  public  action  of  the  people.  Boston,  1852. 


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535 


Armstrong,  Lebbeus,  The  Temperance  Reformation  : its  history,  etc. 
New  York,  1853. 

Brown,  Thurlow  W.,  Why  I am  a temperance  man.  A series  of 
letters  to  a friend,  together  with  tales  and  sketches  from 
real  life  and  hearthstone  reveries.  New  York,  1853. 

Youmans,  Dr.  Edward  L.,  Alcohol  and  the  constitution  of  man. 
New  York,  1854,  12mo.  142  pp. 

Hammond,  Dr.  William  H.,  The  physiological  action  of  alcohol 
and  tobacco  upon  the  human  organism.  ( American  Journal 
of  Medical  Science,  October.)  New  York,  1856. 

Alden,  H.  M.,  Eleusinia.  ( Atlantic  Monthly,  September,  1859 ; 
August,  1860.)  Boston,  Mass.,  1859-1860. 

Andrews,  John  (Governor  of  Massachusetts),  The  errors  of  pro- 
hibition. American  Journal  of  Medical  Science,  July,  1859. 

Sherrill,  H.,  A temperance  medical  lecture  on  the  injurious  and 
dangerous  effects  of  stimulants  and  alcohol  in  many  states  of 
disease.  New  York,  1859. 

Trail,  Dr.  Russell  T.,  The  true  temperance  platform ; or,  an 
exposition  of  the  fallacy  of  alcoholic  medication.  New  York  , 
1864. 

, Alcoholic  medication.  New  York,  1866. 

• -,  Digestion  and  dyspepsia.  New  York,  1880. 

Cox,  Edward,  Abstinence  ; its  influence  upon  the  health,  morals, 
and  success  in  life,  of  the  young.  (Prize  essay.)  Hobart 
Town,  1866. 

Flint,  Dr.  Austin,  The  physiology  of  man.  (On  water,  which 
includes  the  alcohol  question.  Vol.  ii.  pp.  102-114.)  New 
York,  1866. 

Day,  Albert,  Methomania : a treatise  on  alcoholic  poisoning. 
Boston,  1867. 

Alden,  E.,  Medical  uses  of  alcohol.  Boston,  1868. 

Andrew,  James  H.,  Temperance  in  the  American  congress.  New 
York,  1868. 

Parton,  James,  Smoking  and  drinking.  Boston,  1868. 

Sto7'y,  Dr.  Charles  A.,  Alcohol : its  nature  and  effects.  New  York, 
1868. 

Fislce,  Prof.  John,  Tobacco  and  alcohol.  New  York,  1869. 

Peering,  Thomas  W.,  Intemperance;  its  financial,  physical,  and 
moral  evils,  and  its  causes  and  remedies.  New  York,  1870. 

Beard,  Dr.  George  M.,  Stimulants  and  narcotics.  New  York,  1871. 

Patton,  Rev.  William,  The  laws  of  fermentation:  the  wines  of 
the  ancients.  New  York,  1872. 

Burr,  G.,  On  insanity  and  inebriety.  New  York,  1874. 

Dudley,  Col.  T.  G.,  Alcohol:  its  combinations  and  adulterations, 
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Edmunds,  Dr.  James,  The  medical  use  of  alcohol.  New  York, 
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Hitchcock,  The  entailments  of  alcohol.  Lansing,  1874. 

Evans,  Charles,  A series  of  essays  on  the  evils  of  intemperance. 
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Morse,  Dr.,  Report  on  dipsomania  and  drunkenness.  (Ohio  State 
Medical  Society,  Columbus,  June  10-12,  1873.)  Drayton, 
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Powell,  Frederick,  Bacchus  dethroned.  (Prize  Essay.)  New  York, 
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Weeden,  William  B.,  The  morality  of  prohibitory  liquor  laws. 
Boston,  Mass.,  1875. 

Kellogg,  Dr.  J.  H.,  The  physical,  moral,  and  social  effects  of 
alcoholic  poison  as  a beverage  and  as  a medicine.  Bartle 
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Ringer,  Sydney,  Handbook  of  therapeutics.  New  York,  1876. 

Massachusetts  Board  of  Health  Reports  for  1871,  1873,  1875,  1877. 
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Hargreaves,  Dr.  William,  Our  wasted  resources.  New  York,  1876. 

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Pitman,  Robert  C.,  Alcohol  and  the  state.  New  York,  1877. 

Kennedy,  Dr.  J.  C.,  Alcohol : its  effects  on  health,  its  remedial 
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Stephens,  C.  R.,  Inebriety  or  vini  morbus,  a disease,  and  to  be 
treated  as  such.  Salem,  1877. 

Tucker,  W.  G.,  Alcohol:  is  it  a food?  Albany,  1877. 

Centennial  Temperance  Volume : a memorial  of  the  International 
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Barton,  J.  R.,  Dipsomania : its  medical  and  legal  aspects.  ( Quarterly 
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Clienery,  E.,  Alcoholism.  Relations  of  alcoholism  to  other  forms 
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Comings,  B.  N.,  Mental  strain,  and  heredity  a cause  of  inebriety. 
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Da  Costa,  J.  M.,  Dementia  following  alcoholism.  {Medical  and 
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Fowler,  Harriet  P.,  Vegetarianism  the  radical  cure  for  intemper- 
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Greenfield,  TF.  S.,  Alcohol : its  use  and  abuse.  New  York,  1879. 

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Journal  of  Inebriety.)  Hartford,  1879. 

Wilson,  Joseph  (Med.  Dir.  U.S.  Navy),  Naval  hygiene.  Human 
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Surgical  Reporter.)  Philadelphia,  1880. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  537 

Joyce,  Hon.  Charles  H.  (U.S.  Rep.  of  Vermont),  The  alcoholic 
liquor  traffic.  New  York,  1880. 

Petithan,  Law  against  alcoholism,  and  to  institute  temperance 
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1880. 

Cerebral  trance,  or  loss  of  consciousness  and  memory  in  inebriety. 
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Speech  in  the  House  of  Rep.  Washington,  D.  C.,  April  3rd,  1880. 

Colman,  Julia,  Alcohol  and  hygiene:  an  elementary  text-book  for 
schools,  (pp.  231.)  New  York,  1881. 

Ellis,  John,  The  wine  question  in  the  light  of  the  New  Dispensa- 
tion. New  York,  1882. 

Hubbard,  Frederick  H.,  The  opium  habit,  and  alcoholism.  New 
York,  1882. 

Rodgers,  R.  V.,  Drink,  drinkers,  and  drinking  : laws  and  history  ; 
intoxicating  drinks.  Albany,  1882. 

Wheeler,  Rev.  Henry,  Methodism  and  the  temperance  reformation. 
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Baer,  Dr.  (of  Berlin),  Insanity  from  alcohol.  (Translated  by 
Dr.  Carl  Seiler,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  in  American  Psychological 
Journal,  October.)  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  1883. 

Buckham,  Dr.  T.  R.,  Insanity  considered  in  its  medico-legal 
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Dorchester,  Rev.  Daniel,  Latest  drink  sophistries ; sophistries  versus 
total  abstinence.  Boston,  1883. 

Everts,  Orpheus,  What  shall  we  do  for  the  drunkard  ? New  York, 
1883. 

Field,  Rev.  Leon,  Oinos.  New  York,  1883. 

Mann,  Dr.  Edward,  A Manual  of  psychological  medicine.  (In- 
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Mason,  Dr.  Lewis  D.,  Alcoholic  insanity.  (Lecture.)  New  York, 
1883. 

Spitzka,  Dr.  E.  C.,  Insanity : its  classification,  diagnosis,  and 
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Blair,  Senator  Henry  71/.,  Alcohol  in  politics.  ( North  American 
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GERMANY. 

Schrick,  Dr.  Michael,  Verzeychnuss  der  ausgebrannten  Wasser. 
Augspurg,  1483. 

, Von  den  geprannten  wassern  in  welcher  mass  man  die  zu  den 

gelydern  . . . prauchen  soil.  1483. 


538 


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Der  Zutrinker.  Erffordt,  1512. 

Pauli,  Johann,  Schimpff  und  Ernst.  1518. 

Franck,  G.,  Vom  grewlichen  Laster  der  Trunkenheit.  1521. 

Stromer,  Heinrich,  Decreta  aliquot  medica  . . . Utrum  ebrietas 
vino  contracts,  capitis  . . . morbus,  etc.  Lipsise,  1531. 

Opsopceus,  Vincentius,  De  Arte  Bibendi  libri  tres.  Norimbergac, 
1536.  (A  most  bitter  satire,  by  B.  Koch,  under  the  nom  de 
plume  of  Opsopoeus.  It  went  through  several  editions,  and 
was  translated  also,  and  had  much  to  do  with  making  a 
temperance  sentiment.) 

Weidensee,  Eberhard,  Ein  Sermon  von  dsm  grausamen  und  un- 
menschlichen  laster  des  volsauffens.  Magdeburg,  1510.  A 
most  fervid  appeal  against  drink. 

Willichius,  Problemata  de  Ebriorum  affectibus.  Francofurti,  1543. 

Friedrich.  Wider  den  Saufteuffel.  Leipzig,  1552. 

De  generibus  ebriosorum  et  ebrietate  vitanda,  cui  adjecimus  de 
meretricium  in  suos  amatores  et  concubinarum  in  sacerdotes 
fide  questiones.  Erffordt,  1557. 

Hodoeus,  Pi.,  Historia  vitis  vinique  et  stirpium  nonnullarum 
aliarum.  Coloniaj,  1580. 

Pasch,  Johann,  Weinbuch  Das  ist  vom  Baw  und  Pflege  u.  Brauche 
des  Weins,  etc.  Miiucben,  1581. 

Mayr,  J.,  Yon  dem  schweren  Misbrauch  des  Weins.  Coin,  1582. 

Horn,  G.,  Hierampelas,  oder  von  dem  in  der  heiligen  Schrift 
wohlbekannten  Weine  u.  Weinbau.  Schmalkalden,  1585. 

Seidelius,  Bruno,  De  Ebrietate.  Hanoviaj,  1594. 

Khunrath,  Conrad,  Medulla  destillatoria  et  medica  renovata  et 
augmentata,  etc.  1601. 

, Destiller-imd  Arzneykunst.  Leipzig,  1703. 

Gretser,  J.,  Mantissa  de  vino  myrrhato  et  vasis  myrrhinis. 
Ingolstadii,  1608. 

Cornarius,  Janus,  Theologiae  vitis  viniferse  (libri  iii.)  Heidelbergae, 
1614. 

Magirus,  J.,  De  Yinolentia  ejusque  malis.  Francofurti,  1618. 

Hauptmann,  A.,  Insignes  aliquot  Yiticulturaj  errores.  Norimbergiae, 
1642. 

Guiens , C.,  Yitis  Historia.  Halas,  1648. 

Bruyerinus  Campegius,  J.  B.,  Cibus  medicus,  sive  de  re  cibaria 
libri  xxii.  (Wine,  p.  699,  etc.)  Norimbergiaj,  1659. 

Erberfeldt,  H.,  Disputatio  de  spiritibus  ex  vegetabilibus  per 
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internationale  d’hygiene.  Bruxelles,  1876. 

Desguin,  V.,  De  Tabus  des  Alcooliques,  ses  causes,  ses  resultats,  ses 
remed.es.  Bruxelles,  1877. 

Barella,  Hipp.,  De  Tabus  des  Spiritueux,  etc.  Bruxelles,  1878. 

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Rapport  a M.  le  Ministre  de  l’lntei  ieur  sur  la  question  de  TAlcoolisme. 
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Congres  Internationale  pour  l’l5tude  des  Questions  Relatives  a 
TAlcoolisme.  BruxGles,  1880. 

Belannois,  Les  Malades  des  buveurs.  Bruxelles,  1880. 

Bulletin  de  V Association  Beige  contre  l' Abus  des  boissons  Alcooliques. 
Bruxelles,  1882  to  1884. 


HOLLAND. 

Malinkrot,  Dissertatio  ebrietatis  pathologia.  Traj.  ad.  Rh.  1723. 

Heufel,  Von,  Dissertatio  de  Vindemia  et  torcularibus  veterum 
Hebrasorum.  Ultrajecti,  1755. 

Schurmann,  De  effectibus  liquorum  spirituosorum.  Harderovii, 
1791. 

Sinclair,  J.,  Handbuch  der  Gesundheit,  etc.  Amsterdam,  1808. 

Fuliri,  A.  D.,  De  potuum  Spirituosorum  affectibus  in  corpus 
humanum.  Lugduni  Batavorum,  1849. 

Schroeder  vand  der  Kalk,  J.  L.  C.,  Voorlezing  over  den  inloed  van 
sterken  drank  op  het  ligehaam.  Utrecht,  1850. 

Huydecoper,  De  Tabolition  des  boissons  fortes.  1867. 

Florent  Van  der  Ven,  Het  misbruik  van  sterke  dranken.  Almanak 


5G0 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  DEATH. 


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De  Volksvriend,  journal  bebdomadaire  publie'  par  l’Association 
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ITALY. 

Raimundus,  Lullius,  De  secretis  Nature  seu  quinta  essentia.  (Said 
to  have  written  some  sixty  treatises  on  chemical  subjects.) 
Venetiis,  1186. 

Beroaldus , Philippus , Declamatis  Ebriosi,  Scortatoris,  Aleatoris  de 
Yitiositate  disceptantium.  Bononiae,  1499. 

Arnaldus,  de  Villa  Nova , De  Yinis.  Venetiis,  1506. 

Praefectus,  Jacobus,  Symposium  de  Vinis.  Roma;,  1536. 

, De  Diversorum  vini  generum  natura  liber.  Venetiis,  1559. 

Cornaro,  Lewis,  De  Vita;  Sobrite  Commodis.  Padua,  1558. 

Cagnati,  Marsilio,  Variarum  observationum  libri  quatuor.  Poms, 
1587. 

Bacci,  Andrea,  De  naturali  vinorum  historia,  de  vinis  Italia;,  et  de 
conviviis  antiquorum,  libri  septem.  Roma;,  1596. 

Soldi,  J.  F.,  De  natura  aqua;  vita;.  Genua;  (Genoa),  1620. 

Caldera,  Gasper  De  Heredia,  Tribunal,  medicum,  magicum,  et 
politicum.  Lugduni  Batavorum,  1658. 

Carlucci,  L.,  Dissertazioni  chymicofisiche  sopra  1’anaPse  del  vino. 
Napoli  (Naples),  1756. 

Fontana,  Felice,  Richerche  fisiche  sopra  il  veleno  della  Yipera. 
Lucca,  1767. 

Rosellini,  N.  F.  I.  B.,  I Monumenti  deP’  Egitto  e della  Nubia. 
Pisa.  Part  I.,  vols.  i.,  iv.,  1832-1841.  Part  II.,  vuls.  i.,  iii., 
1832-1836.  Part  III.,  vol.  i„  1844. 

Tagliabue,  Antonio,  II  Suicido.  Milano,  1871. 

Bonchi,  J.  et  Salvioli  G.,  Studio  critico-sperimentale  intorno  ad 
alcune  particolarita;  del-l'azione  fisiologica  dell’  alcool.  Modena, 
1875. 

Galli,  Vitaliano,  Absintismo.  Memoria,  . . . Con  Alcuni  appunti 
del  Professore  F.  Coletti  e risposta  dell’  autore.  Padova,  1S77. 

Venuti,  Filippo,  Dissertazione  de’  coli  vinarij  degli  anticbi. 

Terzi,  Ernesto,  Della  ubbriacbezza  in  Italia  et  dei  mezzi  per 
rimediarvi.  Milan,  1878. 


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561 


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Ruszischen  Reichs,  Bd.  i.  p.  315,  etc.,  Coumiss.  St.  Peters- 
burg, 1771-1776. 

Salvatori,  Comment,  patkol.  et  therap.  de  ebriositate.  (Comment. 
Soc.  Phys.)  Mosquensis,  1821. 

Lipinski,  C.,  De  actionepotionum  spirituosorum  in  corpus  liumanum. 
Cracovire,  1839. 

Strauch,  E.,  Demonstratione  spiritus  vini  in  corpus  ingesti.  Dorpat, 
1852. 

Masinq,  R.,  Do  mutationibus  spiritus  vini  in  corpus  ingesti. 
Dorpat,  1854. 

Hermann,  Ueber  den  Missbraucli  geistiger,  Getranke  in  Russlande 
Vortrag  im  Verein  Deutscber  Aertze  in  St.  Petersburg,  Nov. 
13,  1867.  St.  Petersburgher  mediciniscke.  Zeitschrift,  xiii., 
B.  s.,  65.  St.  Petersburg,  1867. 

Zimmerberg,  H,  Untersuchungen  iiber  den  Einfluss  des  Alkohols 
auf  die  Thatigkeit  des  Herzens.  Inaugural  dissertation. 
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SWEDEN. 

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Linnaeus,  Carl  V.,  Dissertatio  academica  inebriantia.  Respond.  0. 
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Bergius,  Petrus,  Dissertatio  in  qua  spiritus  frumenti  proponitur. 
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1789. 

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1831. 

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Zimmermann,  Johann  G.  von,  Der  Eriahrung  iu  der  Arzneykunst. 
Zurich,  1764. 

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1776. 

Lehmann,  Ueber  die  Folgen  des  Missbrauchs  der  geistigen  Getranke. 
Bern,  1837.. 

Hitzig,  Eduard,  Ziele  und  Zwecke  der  Psychiatrie.  Zurich,  1876. 
Stierlin,  B.,  Ueber  Weinfalschung  und  Farbung.  Bern,  1877. 

, Das  Bier,  seine  Verfalschungen  und  die  Mittel,  solche  nachzu- 

weisen.  Bern,  1878. 

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MEXICO. 

Moreno,  J.,  E Apuntes  sobre  el  empleo  therepeutico  del  Alcohol. 
Mexico,  1871. 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORITIES. 


A 

Adamson,  Rev.  Dr.,  346,  393 
Albany,  Duke  of,  331,  417,  432 
Albucassis,  30 
Alden,  Henry  M.,  13 
Allemand,  Dr.  L.,  89,  93 
Alliance  News,  154  note,  239  note, 
256,  341,  354  note,  355,  371, 
Appendix  647 
Amyot,  174 
Andersen,  30 
Anstie,  Dr.,  107,  120,  359 
Aristotle,  31,  34 
Armstrong,  Sir  William,  372 
Arnot,  Hon.  David,  351  note 
Asiatic  Journal,  27  note 
Athenasus,  17 
Avicenna,  30 
Audige,  Dr.,  96 


B 

Bacon,  Lord,  174,  226 
Baer,  Dr.,  28,  33,  55,  67,  82,  101, 
123,  176,  280,  281,  321,  332,  333 
Baker,  W.  M.,  60  note 
Balfour,  Mr.,  442 

, Right  Hon.,  356  note 

Balzac,  Honore  de,  226 
Barry,  Rev.  Edward,  174 
Bartley,  Mr.,  400 
Basset,  38 

Bauer,  Professor  J.,  89 
Baxter,  Dr.  J.,  316 


Bayly,  Mary,  252,  380 

, Captain,  380 

, Mrs.  George,  380 

Beaumont,  Dr.  Thomas,  204 

, Dr.  W.,  74,  93 

Becamp,  43 
Becquerel,  Dr.,  64 
Beddoes,  Dr.,  123,  183 
Beecher,  Henry  W.,  230 
Benson,  Archbishop,  420 

, Bishop,  310 

Bergenroth,  308 

Bergeron,  Dr.,  54 

Bevan,  Llewellyn  D.,  370 

Bevington,  Rev.  A.  C.,  452 

Billing,  Dr.  Archibald,  103,  204 

Binz,  Professor,  96 

Blanqui,  408 

Bock,  Dr.,  157  note 

Boetius,  Hector,  23 

Baker,  Dr.,  83 

Bolas,  42 

Bouchardat,  Dr.,  90 
Bourgeois,  Dr.,  172 
Bourne,  Stephen,  235 
Boussingault,  41 
Bowly,  Samuel,  320 
Bowman,  Dr.,  72,  201 
Boyle,  R.,  35 
Branthwaite,  Dr.  H.,  225 
Bridgett,  Rev.  Father,  25  note 
Brinton,  Dr.,  53 

British  Medical  Journal,  186,  207 
Brockhaus’  Conversationxicon, 
38  note 


564 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORITIES. 


Brooke,  Rev.  Stopford  A.,  122,  323 
Browne,  Dr.  J.  Crichton,  113 
Brnnton,  Dr.  T.  Lander,  79,  92, 
103,  104 
Buffon,  230 

Bnllein,  Dr.  William,  309 
Burdett-Coutts,  Baroness,  387  note 
Burggraeve,  Dr.  A.,  207 
Bnrne,  Peter,  425 
Burns,  Rev.  Dr.  Dawson,  234,  235, 
240,  269  note,  311 

, Mrs.  Dawson,  360 

Burton,  Walter,  49,  52 
Buxton,  E.  N.,  399 

C 

Caesar,  Julius,  23 
Caine,  W.  T.,  M.P.,  253,  455 
Camden,  William,  309 
Camp,  Maxime  du,  280 
Campbell,  T.,  295 
Cantile,  Dr.  James,  99 
Carlisle,  Bishop  of,  422 

, Lord,  387 

, Sir  A.,  70,  218 

Carpenter,  Dr.  W.  B.,  63,  84  note, 
318 

Cash,  Thomas,  268 
Cayley,  Dr.  William,  205 
Cetewayo,  354 

Chamberlain,  Right  Hon.  Joseph, 
M.P.,  278,  402 

Channing,  Rev.  W.  E.,  166,  298, 
395,  414,  428 
Chapin,  Rev.  Dr.,  437 
Cheyne,  Dr.  George,  182,  328  note, 
387 

, Dr.  John,  160,  183,  312 

Christian,  The,  368  note 
Christison,  Professor,  106,  129 
Church  of  England  Temperance 
Chronicle,  375 
Clark,  Sir  Andrew,  57,  121 
Classical  Journal,  17  note 
Clegg,  Alderman,  452 
Clouston,  Dr.  T.  S.,  272 
Cobden,  Richard,  414 
Cole,  Mr.,  54 

Coleridge,  Lord  Chief  Justice,  232 
Collins,  Sir  William,  238 


Colqnhonn,  Mr.,  313  note 
Connaught,  Duke  of,  432  note 
Copland,  Dr.,  316 
Corbet,  W.  J„  M.P.,  272 
Cowen,  Joseph,  M.P.,  414 
Crane,  Rev.  Dr.,  291 
Crosby,  Rev.  Dr.  Howard,  278,  326 


D 

Daily  Chronicle,  381 
Daily  News,  52,  275,  355,  369,  405 
Daily  Telegraph,  51,  262,  296  note, 
346 

Darwin,  Dr.  Erasmus,  131,  174, 
183 

Davenport,  W.  Bromley,  M.P.,  132 

Davies’,  Dr.  95 

Davies,  Dr.  Pritchard,  270 

De  Foe,  Daniel,  310 

Delevan,  E.  C.,  338  note,  425 

Deacon,  J.  F.,  341 

Denman,  James,  50 

Denman,  Mr.  Justice,  232 

Derby,  Lord,  242 

De  Saussure,  41 

Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus,  21 

Disney,  John,  229  note 

Dixon,  Hepworth,  442 

Dogiel,  Professor,  72,  82 

Donnat,  Leon,  393 

Doivse,  Baron,  232 

Draco,  20 

Drysdale,  Dr.  C.  R.,  88,  131,  269 
Dudley,  Col.,  46  note 
Du  Halde,  28  note 
Dujardin-Beaumetz,  Dr.,  96 
Dumarquay,  Dr.,  95 
Dumas,  37 
Dumeril,  Dr.,  95 
Dunlop,  John,  185 
Duroy,  Dr.,  89,  93 


E 

Eccles,  A.  E.,  441 
Echo,  42  note,  266,  339,  343  note, 
383  note 

Edinburgh  Review,  50,  53 
| Edmunds,  Dr.  James,  77  note,  7S, 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORITIES. 


565 


SG,  109,  128  note,  202,  216,  222, 
225,  267 

Edwards,  H.  E.,  418  note 
Ellison,  Canon,  341,  368,  419 
Evening  Standard,  277,  412 
Exeter,  Bishop  of,  393,  426 

F 

Fabius  Pictor,  21 
Fabroni,  Adam,  8 note 
Farrar,  Canon,  254,  344 
Farre,  Dr.  J.  K.,  58 
Figg,  Dr.  E.  G.,  91,  92,  94,  107, 
121,  173,  175,  219,  283 
Finkelburg,  Dr.,  282 
Fiske,  Professor  John,  111,  120 
Fitzgerald,  Mr.  Justice,  231 
Flint,  Dr.  Austin,  63,  68,  85,  88 
Flourens,  Professor  P.,  58 
Fliigge,  Professor,  40 
Forbes,  Sir  John,  103 
Fournier,  Alfred,  47 
Frere-Orban,  H.  J.  W.,  275,  393 
Friend,  Dr.  J.,  30 
Friend,  The,  352  note 
Fuller,  338 

G 

Ganghofner,  Dr.  F.,  269 
Garnett,  Dr.,  317 
Garrod,  Dr.  A.  Baring,  53,  131 
Geber,  29 

Gendron,  Dr.  E.,  176,  280  note 
George,  Henry,  409 
Gilbert,  T.,  444 
Gilchrist,  Dr.,  271 
Gladstone,  Right  Hon.  W.  E.,  231, 
345,  400,  452 
Globe,  The,  370 
Glynn,  Rev.  Carr,  456 
Gordon,  Dr.,  317 
Gould,  Rev.  Baring,  7,  9 
Grimsby  News,  412 
Grindrod,  Dr.  Ralph  Barnes,  23, 
218,  316,  321,  433 
Grove,  Mr.  Justice,  231 
Gull,  Sir  William,  226,  266,  318 
Guthrie,  Rev.  Dr.  J.,  32  note 
Gutzeit,  43 


H 

Haggenmacher,  Otto,  15 
Hale,  Sir  Matthew,  232 
Hales,  Dr.,  83  note 
Hamburger,  J.,  10 
Hamilton,  Lord  Claud.  438 
Hammond,  Dr.  W.  A.,  79 
Hancock,  Rev.  Dr.,  204 
Hare,  Dr.  Charles,  197,  374 
Hargreaves,  Dr.,  275 
Harnack,  Dr.,  199  note 
Harrington,  Sir  John,  310 
Hart,  Ernest,  186 
Hawkins,  Mr.  Justice,  233 
Hawksley,  Dr.  Thomas,  375 
Headland,  Dr.,  103 
Heath,  J.  P.,  350  note 
Heaton,  Mr.,  271,  456  note 
Hermann,  Dr.  L.,  57 
Hermes  Trismegistus,  31 
Herodotus,  17,  58 
Hewitt,  Rev.  Dr.,  321 
Hibberd,  Shirley,  303 
Higginbottom,  Dr.,  183,  195 
Hinton,  Dr.  James,  92 
Hoefer,  30 
Holinshed,  R.,  182 
Holland,  Dr.  J.  G.,  437,  444 
Howard,  Bi'onson,  447 
Howie,  Dr.,  115 

Hoyle,  William,  234-238,  246-252, 
269,  271 

Huddleston,  Baron,  232 
Hufeland,  Dr.,  158 
Humboldt,  F.  H.  A.  von,  27 
Huss,  Dr.  Magnus,  29,  33,  12S, 
141 


J 

Jaccoud,  Professor  Sigismund,  176 
Jackson,  Dr.  Robert,  204 
James,  Dr.,  183 
Jeffreys,  Archdeacon,  426 

, Dr.  Julius,  184 

Johnson,  Dr.  Edward,  32 

, Dr.  James,  317 

Jones,  Edward,  243 
Juvenal,  13 


566 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORITIES. 


K 

Kerr,  Dr.  Norman,  130,  177,  182, 
184,  185,  265,  267,  372,  375 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  354 
King,  Dr.  T.,  103 

, Vice-Admiral  Sir  W.,  297 

note 

Kirk,  Rev.  John,  245 
Kirkegaard,  Soren,  299 
Klein,  Dr.  L.  A.,  67 
Koch,  Dr.  Albin,  64 
Kolliker,  40 
Kopp,  H.,  32 
Kotzebue,  7 

Kraft-Ebing,  Professor,  140,  144, 
149,  178 

Kuyper,  Herr,  94 


L 

Lactantius,  13 
Lamb,  Charles,  159 
Lanceraux,  Dr.  E.,  175,  281 
Lancet,  55,  76,  190,  266,  313,  361, 
371,  390 

Latour,  Cagniard,  40 
Lavoisier,  Antoine  Laurent,  35 
Lawson,  Sir  Wilfrid,  241,  345 
Le  Clerc,  M.,  30 
Lecoint,  Dr.,  95 

Lees,  Dr.  F.  R.,  8 note,  73,  322 
note,  344 

Leigh,  Canon,  362 
Leo  Africanus,  29 
Lewis,  David,  238,  267,  344,  394, 
442 

Libavius,  33  note 

Licensed  Victualler’ s Simple  Guide, 
27  note,  53 

Liebig,  Justus  von,  40,  88,  97,  123 
Lightfoot,  Dr.,  7 
Livesey,  Joseph,  331,  411 
Livy,  21 

Lockhart-Robinson,  Dr.,  269 
Lorin,  Dr.  Marc,  172 
Louisville  Medical  News,  42  note, 
378  note 

Lullus,  Raimundus,  30 


M 

Macrorie,  Dr.,  317 
Mann,  Dr.,  279 

Manning,  Cardinal,  258,  340,  396 
Manu,  6 

Marty,  Dr.  Germain,  231 
Mason,  Dr.  Lewis  D.,  145-148, 149, 
178,  279 

Maudsley,  Dr.,  148,  176 
Maury,  Alfred,  12 
M'Cabe,  Cardinal,  168  note 
McCulloch,  Dr.,  53 
McGee,  Walter,  48 
McKay,  Mr.,  353  note 
McMurtry,  Dr.  A.  H.  H.,  187 
Medical  Temperance  Journal,  24,186 
Medical  Times,  157,  207 
Merriman,  Rev.  Mr.,  112 
Midrasch  Rabboth,  10 
Milton,  John,  7 
Mohl,  Von,  36 
Moister,  Rev.  W.,  436 
Morel,  Dr.  B.  A.,  174,  392 
Morewood,  Mr.,  7,  8,  12,  19,  25 
note,  27  note,  357 
Morgenstern,  Mrs.  Lina,  384 
Morley,  Mr.  S.,  M.P.,  449,  451 
Mossop,  Dr.,  112 
Mount  Temple,  Lord,  449 
Mulhall,  Mr.,  271 
Muller,  Professor,  3,  36 
Mundella,  Right  Hon.  Mr.,  M.P., 
399 

Munroe,  Dr.  H. , 87  note,  192 
Muntz,  41 

Murchison,  Dr.,  129,  130 
Myers,  Dr.  A.  T.,  206 


N 

Nageli,  40 

Napier,  Sir  Charles,  340 
Nasse,  Dr.,  95 
National  Standard,  339 
National  Temperance  Advocate,  342, 
397 

Newcastle  Chronicle,  417 
New  York  Herald,  278 
New  York  Medical  Record,  3S9 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORITIES. 


567 


Nicol,  Dr.,  112 
Nicolls,  Dr.  S.,  208 
Noble,  John,  445 

O 

Orfila,  Dr.,  54 

O’Shaughnessy,  M.,  Q.C.,  231 
Ossington,  Yiscountess,  451 
Owen,  Sir  P.  C.,  349  note 

P 

Paget,  Sir  James,  87 
Pall  Mall  Gazette,  152,  178  note, 
190,  278,  306  note,  347  note,  384, 
388,  394,  397,  442 
Parkes,  Dr.,  47,  114,  124,  186,  197 
note,  241,  379  note 
Parsons,  Rev.  B.,  184  note,  185, 
265,  425,  433 
Pasteur,  40 

Paul,  C.  Kegan,  320,  325 
“Pedro  Verdad,”  48 
Peek,  Francis,  407 
Peligot,  37 
Percy,  Dr.  John,  94 
Perrin,  Dr.  89,  93 
Pettenkofer,  45 
Phillips,  Wendell,  326 
Plohn,  Dr.,  392 
Pitman,  Judge,  344 
Plancy,  Colin  de,  10 
Playfair,  Dr.  Lyon,  78 
Pliny,  21 
Powell,  Mr.,  276 
Prideaux,  23 
Priestley,  35 
Prout,  Dr.,  95 
Puckler,  Prince,  433 

R 

Rae,  Robert,  189,  354,  429 
Reade,  A.  A.,  122 

, Charles,  416 

Redding,  Cyrus,  48 
Reid,  Dr.  J.  C.,  225 
Rhazes,  30 
Riant,  Dr.,  47 
Richardson,  Dr.  B.  W.,  132 


Richardson,  J.  G.,  440 
Ridge,  Dr.  J.  J.,  115,  120 
Rig -Vedas,  3-5 
Ritchie,  Dr.  J.  J.,  195 
Robinson,  W.  B.,  R.N.,  268 
Rochester,  Bishop  of,  337  note 
Rodier,  Dr.,  64 
Roebuck,  J.  A.,  416  note 
Romanes,  Professor,  J.  J.,  303 
Rosch,  Dr.  C.,  174,  218 
Roth,  Professor  von,  3 
Rothschild,  Lady  de,  451 
Rumford,  Count,  383 
Russell,  Lord  John,  387 

, T.  W.,  438 

Rutherford,  35 

S 

St.  Matthew,  8 
Salisbury,  Lord,  401 
Samuelson,  Mr.,  25  note 
Sanderson,  Dr.,  241 
Sandras,  Dr.,  90 
Sanger,  274 
Saturday  Review,  358 
Saunders,  Charles,  259 
Savory,  W.  S.,  101  note 
Scheele,  35 
Scblegel,  269 
Scholtz,  Dr.,  397 
Schrick,  Dr.  M.,  182 
Schulz,  Dr.  C.  H.,  81 
Schwann,  36,  40 
Scientific  American,  140 
Sebright,  John,  302 
Seneca,  16,  22 
Sewall,  Dr.,  317 

Shaftesbury,  Earl,  270,  387,  404 
Shaw,  Mr.,  49 
Shepherd,  Dr.  Edgar,  269 
Sherlock,  Frederick,  309 
Sims,  George  R.,  253,  254, 363-367 
Smith,  Dr.  Edward,  96,  222 

, Rev.  James,  169,  324,  426 

note,  434 

, L.  O.,  384,  385,  386,  405  note 

, Dr.  S.  C.,  203 

Solon,  20 

Son  of  Temperance,  378  note 
Spectator,  The,  359 


568 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORITIES. 


Spencer,  Herbert,  302 
Spicer,  W.  J.,  446 
Spurgeon,  Rev.  C.  H.,  297 
Startin,  James,  130 
Stawell,  Sir  W.  F.,  452  note 
Stephenson,  George,  444 
Stewart,  Rev.  Moses,  425 
Strabo,  13 
Strutt,  Joseph,  428 
Sturge,  Joseph,  456  note 
Stnrges,  Rev.  S.,  450  note 

T 

Tabari,  11 
Talmud,  7,  9 
Taylor,  37 

Temperance  Record,  314  note,  362, 
273  note,  381,  414,  423,  446 
Temperance  Review,  217 
Temple,  Sir  William,  130 
“ Theoricns,”  182 
Thompson,  Sir  Henry,  229,  317 

, Dr.  Symes,  201 

Thomson,  Dr.,  31 

, H.  A.,  275 

Thudichum,  Dr.,  48 
Times,  The,  50,  190,  199,  231,  346 
Todd,  Dr.,  72,  201 
Toronto  Globe,  445 
Trotter,  Dr.  Thomas,  106,  183,  217 
Tryon,  Thomas,  69  note,  295,  309, 
386 

Tupper,  Sir  Charles,  373 
U 

Unkey,  Rev.  A.  J.,  352  note 


v; 

Victoria,  Queen,  430 
Villa-Novus,  Arnoldus,  30,  31 
Vizetelly,  Mr.,  49,  51,  55 

W 

Wakley,  Coroner,  259 
Wales,  Prince  of,  431 
Walter,  Mr.,  M.P.,  399  note 
Wells,  Bishop  of,  451  ; 

, Sir  Spencer,  373 

Westminster,  Duke  of,  451 
Wetherbee,  54 

Weymouth  and  Portland  Guardian, 
413 

Whitaker,  Dr.,  7 

Wilberforce,  Canon  Basil,  423,  426 
Wilkins,  Dr.  E.  T.,  279 
Wilson,  Dr.  James,  390 
Wine  Guide,  54 
Wollowicz,  Dr.,  124 
Wolseley,  Lord,  339 
Wood,  Major-General  Sir  Evelyn, 
340 

Wookey,  A.  J.,  352  note 
Wiinsche,  Dr.  Auguste,  11 
Wiistenfeld,  30 

Y 

York,  Lord  Mayor  of,  429 
Young,  Dr.  Edward,  275 

Z 

Zschokke,  337 


INDEX. 


A 

Absinthe,  45 

Abstainers  and  drinkers,  relative 
longevity  of,  268 

Abstinence,  importance  of  national 
conviction  on,  307 
— pledge,  worth  and  effective- 

ness of,  326 
Acute  alcoholism,  128 
Adepts,  the,  31 

Adulterations,  liquor,  46-56  ; aloes 
in  beer,  55 ; bitter  almond  in, 
46 ; buckbean  in  beer,  55  ; 
cocculus  indicus  in  beer,  55  ; 
cocculus  indicus  in,  47 ; col- 
chicum  used  in,  47 ; colocynth 
in,  47  ; Colonel  Dudley  on,  46 
note ; concoctions  of  alum  in 
beer  for  frothings,  55;  copper  in, 

47  ; copperas  in  beer  for  froth- 
ings, 55 ; essentia  bina  in,  47  ; 
ferrous  sulphate  in,  47 ; gentian 
in  beer,  55  ; molasses  used  in 
beer  for  frothings,  55;  oil  of  clove 
in,  46;  oil  of  vitriol  to  give  age 
to  beer,  56  ; phosphoric  acid  the 
hop  aroma  in  beer,  55 ; picric 
acid  in  beer,  55  ; port  wine,  48  ; 
quassia  in  beer,  55 ; Rhine  wines, 

48  ; salt  in  beer,  55 ; sherry,  49  ; 
sherry,  Times  newspaper  on,  50 ; 
stramonium  in,  46  ; strichnia  in, 
46;  sugar  of  lead  in,  46;  sulphate 
of  iron  used  to  give  a bitter 
taste,  56  ; sulphuric  acid  in,  46  ; 


sweetwort  used  in  beer  for 
frothings,  55 ; tobacco  in,  47 ; 
universality  of,  46 ; water  in 
beer,  55 ; wine,  proposed  treaty 
between  England  and  Spain, 
Daily  News  on,  52 

Africa,  drinking  in,  353  note 

Albucassis  claimed  to  have  dis- 
covered spirit  distillation,  30 

Alchemists’  belief  in  alcohol, 
reasons  for,  31 

Alcohol,  a chief  agent  in  shorten- 
ing life,  59;  action  of,  on  nerves, 
102  ; a food,  66,  67 ; Dr.  Ham- 
mond on,  as  a food,  79 ; reasons 
for  belief  that,  is  a food,  67  ; 
amyl,  discovery  of,  37  ; a nar- 
cotic poison,  106;  as  a cause  of 
crime,  152  ; as  a cause  of  prosti- 
tution, 274  ; as  a medicine,  181 ; 
as  a medicine,  British  Medical 
Journal  on,  186  ; as  a medicine, 
Dr.  Hare  on  decline  in  use  of, 
197  ; as  a medicine,  effects  of  use 
of,  on  mothers  and  offspring,  217 ; 
asa  medicine,  former  and  present 
opinions  of,  198 ; as  an  anti- 
septic and  anti-pyretic,  202  ; as 
an  anti-spasmodic,  202 ; as  a 
narcotic,  201 ; as  a stimulant, 
200 ; a subject  for  chemical 
investigation,  37 ; attitude  of 
physicians  on  the  subject  of  the 
use  of,  65  ; believed  to  be  a 
great  agent  for  producing  happi- 


570 


INDEX. 


ness,  289  ; body  and  mind 
poisoning,  306  ; Bright’s  dis- 
easeand,  129;  conditionsquatify- 
ing  length,  extent,  and  character 
of  alcoholic  paralysis,  120 ; Prcf. 
Piste  on  incipient  alcoholic 
paralysis,  111 ; demands  made 
by,  upon  the  water  of  the  system, 
85  ; derivations  of  the  word,  32  ; 
diseases  caused  by,  127-151 ; 
Dr.  Fame’s  opinion  on  life  being 
shortened  by,  58  ; Dr.  F.  R. 
Lees  on  the  effects  of,  on 
digestion,  73  ; Dr.  Richardson’s 
summary  of  diseases  springing 
from,  132  ; during  the  campaign 
in  1812  in  Russia,  96  ; effect  on 
nervous  system,  98 ; effect  on 
temperature  of  the  body,  95 ; 
effect  on  the  will,  160;  effects 
of,  as  a mental  stimulant,  121 ; 
effects  on  blood,  76  ; effects  on 
the  eye,  112;  effects  on  the 
physical  organs  and  functions, 
57-126 ; effects  on  stomach,  73  ; 
epilepsy  from,  138  ; ethyl,  dis- 
covery of,  37 ; evils  of,  during 
lactation,  218-224 ; during 
pregnancy,  219  ; first  action  of, 
made  direct  on  the  brain,  101 ; 
from  smoke,  42  note;  general 
conclusions  as  to  the  narcotizing 
effects  of,  121 ; general  summary 
of  the  physiological  results  of, 
125 ; heredity,  or  the  curse  on 
descendants  by,  171-180  ; in 
bread,  42  ; influence  of,  on  the 
blood,  81 ; inimical  to  life,  70 ; 
in  living  organisms,  plants,  and 
animals,  43 ; in  the  drawing- 
room, 358  -367 ; in  water,  air, 
and  earth,  41 ; meaning  of 
alcoholic  preservation  of  tissue, 
80 ; mental  phenomena  due  to, 
141-151  ; methyl,  discovery  of, 
37  ; mischief  caused  by,  to 
blood-vessels,  86  ; 

Moderation  in  use  of,  312 ; a 
greater  virtue  than  abstinence  ? 
324;  among  the  French,  322; 
definitions  of,  313  ; effects 


upon  temper  and  judgment, 
321 ; entirely  optional  in  our 
day,  312;  no  fixed  standard 
possible,  312;  practical  worth- 
lessness of  the  plea  of,  314 ; 
preparatory  stage  of  drunken- 
ness, 316  ; publicans  on,  313  ; 
various  opinions  on,  316-321 ; 
Natural  sources  of,  39 ; nerve 
paralyzing  effects  of,  114;  ner- 
vous diseases  from,  138 ; no  right 
to  be  called  a stimulant,  119  ; 
opinion  of  “ Theoricus  ” on,  181 ; 
opinions  of  the  judges  on,  and 
crime,  231 ; opinions  on  destruc- 
tive effects  of,  on  society,  230  ; 
parallel  effects  of,  on  the  nervous 
and  muscular  tissues,  100 ; 
paralysis  from,  138  ; paralyzing 
effect  of,  on  nerves,  105 ; 
physical  effects  of,  in  small 
doses,  115-120;  powerful  agent 
in  restricting  man  to  the  life  of 
the  senses,  290 ; power  of,  over 
mankind,  293 ; presence  of,  in 
brain,  91,  93,  94 ; presence  of, 
in  breath,  91,  92 ; present  in 
skin  - evaporations,  92,  93  ; 

principal  therapeutic  uses  of, 
199 ; produces  degeneration  of 
blood,  82 ; prolific  source  of 
chronic  indigestion,  73  ; reasons 
for  alchemists’  belief  in,  31 ; 
reduces  the  capacity  for  work, 
123 ; retards  digestion,  71  ; 
sensory  disturbance  from,  133  ; 
social  results  caused  by,  226-282 ; 
specious  reasonings  concerning 
the  use  of,  305-330 ; spread  of, 
33 ; summary  effects  of,  on 
digestion,  75;  tendency  of,  to 
decompose  into  elements,  44 ; 
theories  as  to  what  becomes  of 
it  after  entering  blood,  SS,  S9 ; 
theories  regarding  the  effects  of, 
on  the  nerves  producing  the 
drink-craving,  120;  three  medi- 
cal declarations  concerning, 
184-186  ; origin  of  third  medical 
declaration,  189 ; traceable  in 
urine,  92,  93 ; tried  by  the  tests 


INDEX. 


571 


of  food,  68 ; twofold  hurtful 
influence  on  nutrition,  71 ; two- 
fold narcotizing  action  of,  on 
brain  and  nerves,  109  ; use  of, 
during  siege  of  Paris,  67 ; use 
of,  in  early  times,  284 ; various 
names  for,  32  ; women  and,  358- 
367.  See  also  Alcoholism  and 
D rink 

Alcoholic  criminal  activity,  true 
field  of  direct,  157 
criminality,  examples  of  un- 
intentional, 156 

— - drinking,  physiological  and 
mental  results  of,  general  sum- 
mary, 157 

drinks,  food  elements  in,  76  ; 

various,  45 

dyspepsia,  133 

epileptiform  mania, Dr.  Mason 

on,  149 

fermentation,  lethal  nature 

of,  41 ; real  nature  of,  first  dis- 
covered, 40 

hallucinations,  crimes  com- 
mitted under,  Prof.  Kraft-Ebing 
on,  149 

infanticide,  266 

insanity,  269,  279 ; Dr.  Mason 

on,  145,  178  ; in  Prussia,  281 ; 
in  Russia,  282 

mania,  chronic,  149 ; its 

symptoms,  150 

melancholia,  chronic,  150  ; its 

painful  delusions,  150 

phthisis,  135 

prescription,  warning  against, 

225 

■ prescriptions  and  their  pre- 

parations, 199 

treatment  of  typhoid  fever, 

mortality  from,  206 
tremor,  140 

Alcoholism,  Dr.  Huss  the  originator 
of  the  term,  128  ; gradual 
weakening  and  final  destruction 
of  character  by,  163 ; general 
moral  effects  of,  168  ; one  of  the 
greatest  causes  of  the  depopu- 
lation and  degeneration  of 
nations,  176 ; origin  and  causes 


of,  283-304;  transmitted  to  de- 
scendants under  various  forms, 
177 ; analogy  of  acute,  with 
insanity,  Prof.  Kraft-Ebing  on, 
144 ; divisions  of  acute,  145 ; 
Dr.  Huss  on  acute,  141 
Alcohols,  groups  and  varieties  of, 
37,  38 sources  of,  found  in 
drinks,  45  ; various  uses  for,  44 
Ale,  child  mortality  from  use  of, 
during  lactation,  225 
Al-Mokanna’s  death,  29 
Almond,  bitter,  in  liquor  adultera- 
tion, 46 

Aloes  in  beer,  55 

Alum,  concoctions  of,  used  in  beer 
for  frothings,  55 

American  schools,  temperance 
education  in,  397 
Amru,  barbarities  of,  25 
Amusements,  a check  on  drink  and 
crime,  417  ; duty  of  the  rich  to 
provide  innocent,  for  the  poor, 
417  ; reforming  power  and  need 
of  innocent,  414 
Amyl-alcohol,  discovery  of,  37 
Ancients,  distillation  unknown  to 
the  (excepting  possibly  the 
Chinese),  2 ; drinking  among 
the,  1-24 

Ancient  wine  traditions,  6-12 
Anglo-Saxon  power  conquered  by 
its  intemperance,  337 
Anne,  Queen,  free  trade  in  liquors 
during  reign  of,  310 
Antiseptics,  comparative  worth- 
lessness of,  203 

Antwerp,  water  ordinance  in,  387 
Arabia,  spirit  distillation  in,  29 
Araca  asa,  a brandy  distilled  from 
koumiss,  45 

Army,  Belgian,  drinking  in  the, 
338  note 

, English,  importance  of  so- 
briety in,  337  ; Lord  Wolseley 
on  drink  in,  339  ; Major-Gen.  Sir 
Evelyn  Wood’s  experiences,  340 
Arrack,  a brandy  obtained  from 
rice,  45 

Artisans’,  Labourers’,  and  General 
Dwelling  Company,  442  • 


572 


INDEX. 


Association,  the  force  of,  294 

Assyria  and  drink,  15 

Athens  and  drink,  20 

Atmosphere  always  charged  with 
ferments,  40 

Australian  schools,  temperance 
education  in,  397 

B 

Bacteria,  or  micro-organisms,  39 
note 

Bacchus,  Noah  thought  to  be 
original,  11 ; worship,  11-15 ; 
similarity  between  Greek  and 
Egyptian  worship,  12 

Banks,  Lord  Derby  on  savings, 
242  ; savings,  school  system  in 
Sweden,  398 ; suggestions  for 
establishment  of  sober  working 
men’s,  405 

Barley  for  malting  purposes,  re- 
fusal to  sell,  456 

Barmaids  a cause  of  intemperance, 
368 

Beaumont,  J.  J.,  the  case  of,  296 
note 

Bechuanas  and  drink,  352  note 

Bedfordshire,  drunkenness  and 
crime  in,  153 

Beer — Act,  357 ; adulteration,  55  ; 
aloes  in,  55 ; alum  used  for 
frothings,  55 ; buckbean  in,  55 ; 
cocculus  indicus  in,  55 ; Dr. 
Drysdale  on,  and  gout,  131 : 
drinkers,  fat  in,  78  ; Drs.  Beau- 
mont and  Brunton  on  fat  in 
drinkers  of,  79 ; drinking,  77  ; 
drinking  during  lactation,  224  ; 
gentian  in,  55  ; molasses  in,  55  ; 
oil  of  vitriol  used  to  give  age, 
56;  phosphoric  acid  in,  55;  picric 
acid  in,  55 ; quassia  in,  55 ; 
sweetwort  used  for  frothing,  55 ; 
salt  in,  55,  77  note;  Scientific 
American  on  general  diseases 
resulting  from,  140 ; sulphate 
of  iron  used  to  give  the  bitter 
taste  in,  56 ; sulphuric  acids 
used  to  give  age,  56 ; water 
in,  55 


Belgian  army,  drinking  in  the, 
338  note 

Belgium,  drink  question  in,  275 
Berlin,  steam  kitchen  in,  383 
Bessbrook  estate,  438 
Birmingham,  public-houses  in,  278 
Blood,  alcoholic  degeneration  of, 
82  ; constituent  parts  of,  62  ; 
constitution  of,  64  ; Drs. 
Becquerel,  Rodier,  and  Albin 
Koch  on  constitution  of,  64 ; 
effects  of  alcohol  on,  76 ; in- 
fluence of  alcohol  on  the,  81 ; 
the  nature  and  twofold  mission 
of,  62 ; theories  as  to  what 
becomes  of  alcohol  after  enter- 
ing, 88,  89 

Blood-vessels,  disease  of  the,  135  ; 

mischief  caused  by  alcohol,  86 
Blue  Ribbon  movement,  449; 
Right  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  on, 
452  ; significance  of,  451 
Botany  originated  by  Aristotle,  34 
Brain,  first  action  of  alcohol  made 
direct  on,  101  ; presence  of 
alcohol  in,  91,  93,  94 ; quality 
of,  decides  the  quality  of  its 
communicating  power,  113  : 
twofold  narcotizing  action  of 
alcohol  on,  and  nerves,  109 
Bread,  alcohol  in,  42 
Breath,  presence  of  alcohol  in,  91, 
92 

Bright’s  disease  and  alcohol,  129 
British  Medical  Journal  on  alcohol 
as  a medicine,  186 
Buckbean  in  beer,  55 
Burglar  must  be  wary  and  cool,  165 

C 

Calculus,  137 

Cambyses  and  his  cup-bearer,  17 
Canadian  schools,  temperance 
education  in,  397 

Canterbury  Convocations  on  drink, 
229 

Carbon,  definition  of,  3S 
Carbonic  acid  gas,  41  note ; in  coal 
mines,  42 

Carthage  and  drink,  22 
Cataraot,  137 


INDEX. 


573 


Catholic  Total  Abstinence  League, 
396 

Cell  theory  established  by 
Schwann  and  Yon  Mohl,  36 
Cetewayo  and  drink,  354 
Character,  gradual  weakening  and 
final  destruction  of,  by  alcohol- 
ism, 163 

Chemical  elements,  demonstration 
of,  by  Boyle,  35 ; of  human  body, 
60 

Children  and  drink,  297,  368-372 ; 
legislation  against  drinking  by, 
369 ; legislation  for  temperance 
education  of,  393 

Chinese  supposed  original  dis- 
coverers of  distillation,  27 
Chronic  alcoholic  mania,  149 ; its 
symptoms,  150 

Chronic  alcoholic  melancholia,  150; 

its  painful  delusions,  150 
Chronic  alcoholism,  128 
Church,  responsibility  of  the,  in 
regard  to  drink,  417 
Church  of  England  Temperance 
Society,  Bishop  of  Carlisle  on 
its  success,  422 ; origin  and 
growth,  419 ; its  purpose  and 
mission,  421 ; versus  grocers’ 
licences,  362 

Church  proprietorship  in  public- 
houses  denounced,  422 
City  of  London  Total  Abstainers 
Union,  449 

Clergy,  responsibility  of,  in  regard 
to  drink,  417 

Cocculus  indicus  in  beer,  55  ; used 
in  liquor  adulteration,  47 ; a 
substitute  for  alcohol,  55 
Cochineal  used  in  colouring  wine, 
55 

Coffee-tavern  movement,  378 ; 
Daily  Chronicle  on,  381 ; Duke 
of  Albany  on,  432  ; History  of, 
379 

Colchicum  used  in  liquor  adultera- 
tion, 47 

Cold-bath  treatment,  summary  of, 
207  ; in  typhoid  fever,  205 
Colocynth  used  in  liquor  adultera- 
tion, 47 


Commune,  results  of  drink  under, 
280 

Compensation,  in  which  all  in- 
terests are  satisfied,  349 ; pub- 
licans’ side  of  the  question,  348  ; 
to  publicans,  347.  See  also  Local 
option,  Legislation,  and  Prohi- 
bition 

Confederacy  of  the  Southern  States, 
downfall  of,  338  note 
Cooking,  best  system  of,  385 
Copper  used  in  liquor  adulteration, 

47 

Copperas  used  for  frothing,  55 
Crime,  alcohol  as  a cause  of,  152 ; 
amusements  a check  on,  417 ; 
opinions  of  the  judges  on  alcohol 
and,  231-234 

Crimes  committed  under  alcoholic 
hallucinations,  Prof.  Kraft-Ebing 
on,  149 

Criminality,  alcoholic  examples  of 
unintentional,  156 
Customs,  drinking,  301,  428  ; origin 
and  age  of,  428;  Queen’s  oppo- 
sition to,  429 

Cyrus,  visit  of,  to  King  Astyages 
of  Media,  16 

D 

Dalrymple  Home  for  the  cure  of 
habitual  drunkards,  372 
Darlington  and  Stockton  Railway 
Company  and  temperance,  444 
Declarations,  medical,  concerning 
alcohol,  184-186  ; origin  of  third, 
189 ; opinion  of  press  on,  190 ; 
wording  of,  191 ; impression  on 
public  mind,  192 ; medical 
opinions  on,  192 

Delirium  Tremens,  143,  147 ; Dr. 
Maudsley’s  description  of,  148 ; 
its  symptoms  and  general  cha- 
racteristics, 147 

Deluge,  punishment  for  drunken- 
ness, 8 

Diabetes,  137 

Diet  for  nursing  mothers,  222 
Digestion,  Dr.  P.  R.  Lees  on  the 
effects  of  alcohol  on,  73 retarded 


574 


INDEX. 


by  alcohol,  71 ; summary  effects 
of  alcohol  on,  75 
Diocletian,  barbarities  of,  25 
Dipsomania,  or  the  craviDg  for 
drink,  177,  178 

Disease,  definition  of  the  term, 
127 

Diseases  caused  by  alcohol,  1 27-1 51 ; 
due  to  the  use  of  alcohol,  Prof. 
Christison  on,  129 ; Dr.  Richard- 
son on,  132 

Distillation,  Chinese  supposed 
original  discoverers  of,  27  ; defi- 
nitions of,  26;  history  of  the 
discovery  of,  25-33 ; unknown 
to  the  ancients  (excepting  pos- 
sibly the  Chinese),  2 

• , spirit,  26,  27 ; Albucassis 

said  to  have  discovered,  30 ; 
discovery  attributed  to  the  far 
East,  27 ; in  Arabia,  29 ; old 
German  legend  attributes  in- 
vention to  the  devil,  27  note; 
Rhazes,  the  Moorish  physician, 
30 

Drawing-room  and  drink,  358-367 
Drink,  allegory  of  Mohammed,  23 
note;  among  the  ancients,  1-24; 
among  the  ancient  Scots,  23 ; 
among  the  Yedic  peoples,  3-6; 
amusements  a check  on,  417 ; 
a cause  of  insanity  and  suicide, 
269;  at  the  Adelphi,  415;  black 
list  of  crimes  due  to,  227 ; 
Canterbury  Convocations  on, 
229 ; children  taught  to,  297 

customs,  301,  428 ; origin  and 

age  of,  428  ; Queen’s  opposition 
to,  429 

, decrease  of  population  in 

France  caused  by,  281 ; dis- 
tributing to  crews,  discontinu- 
ance of,  447  ; history  in  England, 
308 ; in  Assyria,  15 ; in  Athens, 
20;  in  Belgium,  275;  in  Carthage, 
22 ; in  Egypt,  18 ; in  Greece,  20  ; 
in  Media,  16 ; in  Normandy,  281 ; 
in  Persia,  16,  17 ; in  Rome,  20 ; 
in  Sparta,  20  ; in  Syracuse,  22  ; 
instance  of  power  of,  to  anni- 
hilate the  will,  160 


Moderation  in,  312 ; a greater 
virtue  than  abstinence  ? 324 ; 
among  the  French,  322 ; defi- 
nitions of,  313;  effects  upon 
temper  and  judgment,  321 ; 
entirely  optional  in  our  day, 
312 ; no  fixed  standard  pos- 
sible, 312 ; practical  worth- 
lessness of  the  plea  of,  314; 
preparatory  stage  of  drunken- 
ness, 316;  publicans  on,  313; 
various  opinions  on,  316-321 

Drink  mortality,  265 

and  poverty,  245,  400 ; chief 

cause  of  poverty,  399 ; main- 
spring of  poverty,  240 ; Dr. 
Channing  on  poverty  with  or 
without,  166 ; relations  between, 
and  poverty,  239 ; report  of 
special  sanitary  commissioner 
on  poverty  and,  260 ; responsi- 
bility of  rich  in  the  question  of, 
and  poverty,  407 ; responsibility 
of  magistrates,  etc.,  in  regard  to, 
417 ; results  for  England,  275  ; 
specious  arguments  on  account 
of  climate,  314;  statistics,  234; 
the  deadly  enemy  of  human 
happiness,  167 ; traffic  and  its 
evils,  236.  See  also  Alcohol 

Drinkers  and  abstainers,  relative 
longevity  of,  268 

Drinking,  and  positions  of  trust, 
445 ; fountains  in  London,  3S7 
note  ; habits,  social,  436  ; mode- 
rate, 312 

Drunkard,  moral  insolvency  of, 
161 

Drunkards,  cure  of  habitual,  375 

Drunkards’  children,  condition  of, 
256 

Drunkenness,  analogy  of,  with  in- 
sanity, 144;  habitual,  universally 
condemned,  312 ; qualified  by 
the  kind  of  intoxicant,  156 ; 
examples  of,  157 

Durham,  drunkenness  and  crime 
in,  153 

Dyspepsia,  alcoholic,  133 


INDEX. 


OtO 


E 

Edgar,  King,  attempts  to  check 
intemperance,  338 
Education,  Dr.  Channing’s  defini- 
tion of,  395  ; drink  in  its  bearing 
on,  399 ; of  the  wealthy,  399 
note  ; poverty  the  worst  enemy 
of  popular,  399  ; temperance,  in 
American,  Australian,  Canadian, 
and  German  schools,  397 ; public 
schools,  396 ; public  money  de- 
voted to,  and  war,  394 
Egypt,  drink  and  temperance 
efforts  in,  18 

Egyptians  earliest  brewers,  18 
Egyptian  worship  of  Bacchus, 
similarity  between  it  and  Greek, 
12 

Elderberries  used  in  colouring 
wines,  55 

Eleusinian  mysteries,  13 ; abolished 
by  the  Emperor  Herodosius  the 
Great,  15 

England,  commencement  of  wine- 
drinking in,  309  ; drink  history 
of,  308;  drink  results  for,  275; 
hard  drinking  unknown  in,  until 
seventeenth  century,  310 ; im- 
portance of  sobriety  in  army 
and  navy,  337 ; obligations  of 
the  Government  in  internal 
reforms,  335 

English  army,  importance  of 
sobriety  in,  337  ; Lord  Wolseley 
on  drink  in,  339 ; Major-Gen.  Sir 
Evelyn  Wood’s  experiences,  340 
English  nation,  virility  of,  and 
driuk,  308 

Epileptiform  mania,  alcoholic,  Dr  . 

Mason  on,  149 
Epilepsy  from  alcohol,  138 
Erysipelas  largely  due  to  alcohol, 
130 

Esquimaux  and  alcohol,  96 
Essentia  bina  used  in  liquor 
adulteration,  47 

Essex,  drunkenness  and  crime  in, 
153 

Ethyl-alcohol,  discovery  of,  37 
Eye,  narcotic  effects  on,  112 
Eyes,  alcohol  and  the,  137 


P 

Fermentation,  discovery  of,  at- 
tributed to  Jemsheed,  16  note; 
meaning  and  processes  of,  39 
Ferments,  important  role  played 
by,  65 ; nature,  action,  and 
influence  of,  on  life,  39 
Ferrous  sulphate  used  in  liquor 
adulteration,  47 

Fever,  cold-bath  treatment  in 
typhoid,  205 ; mortality  from 
typhoid,  under  alcoholic  treat- 
ment, 206 ; Dr.  Murchison  on, 
129  ; water- treatment  in,  204 
Food,  alcohol  as  a,  66,  67  ; defini- 
tion of,  61  ; Dr.  Hammond  on 
alcohol  as  a,  79 ; elements  in 
alcoholic  drinks,  76  ; in  alcoholic 
drink  not  in  the  alcohol,  but  in 
the  residuals,  78 ; paraffin  as  a 
respiratory,  89  ; reasons  for 
belief  that  alcohol  is  a,  67  ; sugar 
an  important  element  of,  68 
Foods,  alcohol  tried  by  the  tests 
of,  68 ; broadly  divided  into 
three  classes,  61  ; chemical 
division  of,  62  ; division  of  the 
regular,  62 ; the  process  of 
nutrition,  62 

Forbidden  fruit,  vine  the,  7 
Forger  must  be  sober,  165 
France,  decrease  in  population  of, 
caused  by  drink,  281 
Freemasonry  and  temperance,  431 
French,  moderate  drinking  with 
the,  322 

army,  deterioration  of,  caused 

by  drink,  280 
Revolution,  408 


G 

Geber  on  distillation,  29 
Gentian  in  beer,  55 
German  schools,  temperance  edu- 
cation in,  397 

Germany,  a sixteenth-century 
temperance  society  in,  312"; 
early  moderation  societies  in, 
332  ; reasons  for  their  failure,  333 


576 


INDEX. 


Ghazal,  meaning  of,  17  note 
Gin-drinker’s  liver,  130 
Gout,  Drs.  Darwin,  Drysdale,  and 
Garrod  on,  1.31  ; Sir  William 
Temple  on,  130 ; wines  to  be 
avoided  in,  53 

Grand  Trunk  Railway  and  temper- 
ance, 446 

Grape,  purple,  origin  of,  11 
Graspers  who  succeed  and  who 
fail,  290 

Greece  and  drink,  20 
Greek  worship  of  Bacchus,  simi- 
larity between  it  and  Egyptian, 
12 

Greenlanders  and  alcohol,  96 
Griquas  and  drink,  351  note 
Grocers’  Licence  Acts,  357  ; G.  R. 
Sims  on  social  effects  of,  363  ; 
protests  in  press  against,  360 ; 
reasons  for  repeal  of,  367 

H 

Habit,  force  of,  295 ; because  of 
natural  laws,  295  ; becomes 
instinct,  300-303 ; difficult  to 
break,  300 ; of  evil,  299 ; of 
hereditary,  298 

Habitual  drunkenness  universally 
condemned,  312 

Hallucinations,  crimes  committed 
under  alcoholic,  Prof.  Kraft- 
Ebing  on,  149 

Hampshire,  prohibition  in,  441 
Happiness,  alcohol  believed  to  be 
a great  agent  for  producing, 
289  ; foundation  of  human,  167 ; 
missed  by  man’s  self-deception, 
291  ; searching  after,  285 ; what 
it  is  and  how  found,  293 
Hastings,  battle  of,  lost  through 
drink,  337 

Health,  definition  of  the  term, 
127  ; drinking,  434  ; example  of 
recuperative  powers  of  body, 
392  ; specious  arguments  on, 
and  strength,  328 
Heart,  disease  of  the,  134 
Heredity,  or  the  curse  entailed  on 
descendants  by  alcohol,  171-1S0 ; 


diseases  of  alcoholic,  Prof.  Kraft- 
Ebing  on,  178;  Drs.  Bourgeois 
and  Figg  on,  172,  173 ; Dr. 
Lorin  on  general  laws  of,  172  ; 
Lacteal,  178  note;  scope  of 
hereditary  effects,  173  ; the  laws 
of,  a protection  to  the  race,  171 ; 
various  authorities  on,  174 
Home  of  the  drunken  wife  and 
mother,  161 

Homes  for  drunkards,  372-376 
Horns,  symbol  of  Bacchus,  13 
Human  body,  chemical  elements 
of,  60 ; quantity  of  water  in,  63 
Huss,  Dr.,  the  originator  of  the 
term  alcoholism,  128 
Hydrogen,  definition  of,  38 

I 

India,  increase  of  drinking  in,  353 
Indigestion,  chronic,  alcohol  a 
prolific  source  of,  73 
Indra-worship,  4^5 
Infanticide,  alcoholic,  266 
Infants,  water  for,  389 
Insanity,  analogy  of  drunkenness 
with,  144;  on  the  increase,  272  ; 
tables  showing  the  assigned 
causes  of  ( see  Appendix) 

, alcoholic,  269,  279 ; Dr.  Mason 

on,  145, 178  ; in  Prussia,  281 ; in 
Russia,  282 
Insomnia,  13S 
Instinct,  302 

Intemperance,  greater  plague  than 
war,  pestilence,  or  famine,  231  ; 
juvenile,  in  Manchester  and 
Liverpool,  368 

Intention,  difference  between  will 
and,  160 

Intoxicant,  qualifies  kind  of 
drunkenness,  156  ; examples  of, 
157 

Intoxication,  acts  of,  291 
J 

Jews  and  drink,  23 


INDEX. 


577 


K 

Kepler  extract  of  malt,  380  note 
Kidneys,  alcohol  and  the,  137 
Kirsch,  a brandy  from  the  black- 
berry, 45 

Kissing  women  on  the  mouth, 
supposed  origin  of,  22 
Knowledge,  first  graftings  towards, 
by  means  of  the  senses,  288 
Koumiss — fermented  milk,  45 

L 

Lactation,  beer-drinking  during, 
224  ; child  mortality  from  beer- 
drinking during,  225 ; evils  of 
alcohol  during,  218-224 
Lamb’s,  Charles,  pathetic  warning, 
159 

Land  nationalization,  a cure  for 
poverty,  409  ; examples  of 
reasonable  effects,  412  ; results 
of,  without  temperance  reform, 
411 

Laplanders  and  alcohol,  96 
Legislation,  367 ; dangers  attend- 
ing, 337 ; dangers  attending 
political  agitation,  341  ; for 
poverty,  407 ; futility  of,  as  a 
cure  for  poverty,  408 ; Habitual 
Drunkard’s  Act,  375;  inter- 
national, on  drink  question  re- 
quired, 376  ; liquor,  357  ; need 
of  a national  permanent  drink 
commission,  377  ; obligations  of 
British  Government  in  internal 
reforms,  335 ; parliament  and 
the  drink  question,  228  ; parlia- 
mentary report  on  drink  in  1834, 
241 ; Queen’s  speech  (1883), 
344 ; suggestions  for  alleviation 
of  poverty,  401 ; temperance 
education  for  children,  393 
Licences,  restriction  of  the  power 
of  renewing,  367 

Licensing,  summary  of  history  of, 
357 

Life,  average  limit  of,  58 ; alcohol 
inimical  to,  70;  alcohol  a chief 
agent  in  shortening,  59 ; Dr. 


Herman’s  idea  of  limit  of  human , 
57 ; ignorance  chief  cause  of 
brevity  of,  59 ; nature,  action, 
and  influence  of  ferments  on, 
39  ; water  of  paramount  im- 
portance to,  63;  wisdom  inherent 
in  organic,  60 

Liquor  adulterations.  See  Adultera- 
tions, liquor 

Liquor-dealers,  mortality  among, 
266 

Liver,  alcohol  and  the,  137  ; cir- 
rhosis or  shrinkage  of,  130 ; Dr. 
Murchison  on  functional  di- 
seases of,  130 

Liverpool,  juvenile  intemperance 
in,  368  ; social  condition  of  poor 
in,  260 

Local  Option,  345;  Sir  Wilfrid 
Lawson’s  scheme,  345  ; Sir 
William  Harcourt  on,  346-347 

Logwood  used  in  colouring  wine,  55 

London,  agitation  for  pure  water 
Supply  in,  387  ; drinking-foun- 
tains in,  387  note  ; Bitter  Cry 
of  Outcast,  264 ; homes  of  the 
poor,  252-256  ; Horrible,  254 ; 
“ How  the  Poor  Live,”  253  ; 
“ Why  should  London  wait  ? ” 
262 

Temperance  Hospital,  history 

and  progress  of,  208 ; origin, 
foundation,  and  work  of,  209  ; 
summary  of  all  cases  of  typhoid 
fever  treated  in,  212  ; methods 
of  treatment  in,  216 

Longevity,  relative,  of  drinkers 
and  abstainers,  268 

Lord’s  Supper,  intoxicating  wine 
in  the,  301  ; use  of  wine  in, 
423-428 

Lullus,  Raimundus,  and  spirit  dis- 
tillation, 30 

Lungs,  disease  of  the,  135 

Lupulit,  a narcotic  drink,  56 

M 

Macrobians  in  the  time  of  Cambyses, 
58 

Madagascar,  liquor  prohibition  of 
2 P 


578 


INDEX. 


Queen  of,  356 ; liquor  treaty 
with,  355 

Magistrates,  responsibility  of,  in 
regard  to  drink,  417 
Mallow-bloom  used  in  colouring 
wine,  55 

Malt  not  so  nutritious  as  grain,  78 

extract  a promoter  of  easy 

digestion,  379  note  ; Kepler,  380 

note 

liquors,  Drs.  Beaumont  and 

Brunton  on  the  fat  of  drinkers 
of,  79 ; Specially  considered,  77 
Malting,  45 

“ Man  no  longer  dies,  he  kills 
himself,”  173 

Manchester,  drunkards’  children 
in,  256 ; juvenile  intemperance 
in,  368 

Mania-a-potu,  143,  146 
Mankind,  divided  into  two  great 
factions,  290 ; power  of  alcohol 
over,  293 

Martha  Washington  Home,  374 
note 

Media  and  drink,  16 
Medical  declarations  concerning 
alcohol,  184-186  ; origin  of 
third,  189  ; opinion  of  press  on, 
190 

Medical  profession,  Dr.  McHur- 
try’s  appeal  to,  187 
Medicine,  alcohol  as,  181-225 ; 
British  Medical  Journal  on  alco- 
hol as,  186 ; Dr.  Hare  on  decline 
in  use  of  alcohol  as,  197  ; former 
and  present  opinions  of  alcohol 
as,  198 

Melancholia,  chronic  alcoholic,  150; 

its  painful  delusions,  150 
Mental  phenomena  due  to  alcohol, 
141-151 

results  of  alcohol,  general 

summary  of,  157 
Methyl-alcohol,  discovery  of,  37 
Middle  Ages,  drink  in  the,  25 
Midland  Railway  and  temperance, 
445 

Milk  instead  of  alcohol  in  hospitals, 
198 

,hot,a  healthful  drink,  378  note 


i Moderation  in  drink,  312 ; no 
fixed  standard  possible,  312 ; 
entirely  optional  in  our  day, 
312  ; definitions  of,  313  ; 
publicans  on,  313 ; practical 
worthlessness  of  the  plea  of, 
314;  preparatory  stage  of 
drunkenness,  316  ; various 
opinions  on,  316-321 ; effects 
upon  temper  and  judgment,  321 ; 
among  the  French,  322 ; a greater 
virtue  than  abstinence  ? 324 

societies,  early,  332 

Mohammedans  and  drink,  23 
Mohammed’s  drink  allegory,  23 
note 

Molasses  used  in  beer  for  froth- 
ings,  55 

Moral  insolvency  of  drunkard,  161 
Mortality  among  liquor-dealers, 
366  ; from  drink,  265 
Murderer  and  drink,  165 
Music,  humanizing  power  of,  415 

N 

Narcotic,  alcohol  as  a,  201 
Narcotics,  102  ; definition  and 
division  of,  105  ; the  most  im- 
portant, 104 ; various  conflicting 
definitions  of,  103 
Narcotizing  effects  of  alcohol, 
general  conclnsions  as  to,  121 
National  Temperance  Federation, 
plan  and  organization  of,  452 ; 
National  Temperance  League, 
labours  of,  396 

Navy,  English,  importance  of 
sobriety  in,  337 

Nerves,  action  of  alcohol  on,  102  ; 
paralyzing  effect  of  alcohol  on, 
105,  114 ; twofold  narcotizing 
action  of  alcohol  on  brain  and, 
109 

Nervous  diseases  from  alcohol,  13S 
Nervous  system,  Dr.  Cantile  on 
character  and  functions  of,  99  ; 
effects  of  alcohol  on,  9S  ; physio- 
logy of,  98 

New  York  Christian  Home  for 
Intemperate  Men,  374  note 


INDEX. 


579 


New  York  city,  ram  shops  in,  278 
Nitrogen  and  oxygen,  discovery 
of,  35 

Noah,  said  to  be  Saturn,  12 ; 
thought  to  be  original  Bacchus, 

11 

and  Satan  planting  the  vine,  9 

Normandy,  drink  in,  281 
Northumberland,  drunkenness  and 
crime  in,  153 

Nutrition,  the  process  of,  62 

O 

Oatmeal  drink,  379  note 
Oil  of  clove  in  liquor  adulteration, 
46 

of  turpentine  first  obtained 

by  Amoldus  Villa-Novus,  31 

of  vitriol  to  give  age  to  beer, 

56 

Organic  diseases  from  alcohol,  134 
Oxidation,  discovery  of  the  basis 
of,  by  Lavoisier,  35 
Oxygen,  definition  of,  38 
and  nitrogen,  discovery  of,  35 

P 

Paraffin  as  a respiratory  food,  89 
Paralysis,  conditions  qualifying 
length,  extent,  and  character  of 
alcoholic,  120  ; from  alcohol, 
138  ; incipient  alcoholic,  111 
Parentage,  responsibility  of,  171 
Paris,  siege  of,  drink  during,  280 
Parliament  and  the  drink  question, 
228 

Parliamentary  report  in  1834  on 
temperance,  241 

Pathological  results  of  alcohol, 
127-151 

Patriotism,  groundwork  of  all,  295 
Pauperism,  drink  the  mainspring 
of,  240 

Persia  and  drink,  16,  17 
Phosphoric  acid  the  hop  aroma  in 
beer,  55 

Ththisis,  alcoholic,  135 
Physicians,  responsibility  of,  in 
regard  to  drink,  417 


Physiology,  in  temperance  re- 
form, 334 ; organic  scientific, 
established,  36 ; originated  by 
Aristotle,  34 

Physiological  effects  of  alcohol  in 
small  doses,  115-120;  results  of 
alcohol,  57-126;  general  sum- 
mary of,  125  ; physiological  and 
mental  results  of  alcohol,  general 
summary  of,  157 

Picric  acid  in  beer,  55 

Pig,  fable  of  drunken  man  and 
sober,  158 

Poison,  definition  of,  64  ; division 
into  two  groups,  64; 

Poisons  used  in  liquor  adultera- 
tion, 47 

Political  agitation,  dangers  attend- 
ing, 337,  341 

Port  wine  adulterations,  48 

Poverty,  caused  by  drink,  399, 
400 ; drink  the  mainspring  of, 
240  ; futility  of 'mere  legislation 
on,  408 ; land  nationalization  a 
cure  for,  409 ; Mr.  Gladstone 
on,  400 ; propagation  of,  372  ; 
State  aid,  404 ; suggestions  for 
alleviation  of,  401 ; with  and 
without  drink.  Dr.  Channing- 
on,  166  ; worst  enemy  of  popular 
education,  399 

and  drink,  245-400 ; report 

of  special  sanitary  commissioner, 
260 ; responsibility  of  the  rich 
in  the  question  of,  407 ; relations 
between,  239 

Pregnancy,  evils  of  alcohol  during, 
219 

Progress,  human  foundation  of, 
167 

Prohibition — Artisan  s’ , Labour  er  s’ , 
and  General  Dwelling  Company, 
442 ; Bessbrook  estate,  438 ; 
dangers  attending  political 
agitation  for,  341 ; estate  in 
Tyrone,  438  ; in  Hampshire, 
441  ; initiary  measures  for, 
345;  in  St.  Johnsbnry,  Ver- 
mont, 443 ; in  Saltaire,  441  ; in 
the  town  of  Pullman,  U.S.A., 
443  ; Queen  of  . Madagascar’s 


580 


INDEX. 


proclamation,  356 ; real  estate 
companies,  442  ; village  of  White 
Coppice,  441 ; when  practicable 
and  beneficent,  343.  See  also 
Local  Option  and  Legislation 
Prostitution  and  alcohol,  274 
Prussia,  alcoholic  insanity  in,  281 
Pseudo-stimulant,  meaning  of  term, 
105 

Publicans,  compensation  to,  347 ; 

mortality  among,  266 
Public-house,  proposalf  or  a mission 
to  start,  306  note 

Public-houses,  Church  proprietor- 
ship denounced,  422 ; low  win- 
dows compulsory  for,  367  ; pay- 
ment of  wages  at,  435 
Public  schools,  temperance  educa- 
tion in,  396 

Pullman,  town  of,  prohibition  in, 
443 

„Q 

Quarterly  Medical  Temperance 
Journal  established,  186 
Quassia  in  beer,  55 
Quicklime  sometimes  used  in 
rectifying  spirits,  47 

E 

Railway  companies  and  temper- 
ance, 444 

Real  estate  companies,  prohibition 
in,  442 

Rectification,  27 

Refreshment  Houses  and  Wine 
Licences  Act,  357 
Religion,  man’s  self-deception  in, 
292 

Rhazes,  the  Moorish  physician, 
and  spirit  distillation,  30 
Rhine  wines,  adulterations  of,  48 
Rich,  duty  of,  to  provide  innocent 
amusement  for  the  poor,  417 ; 
responsibility  of,  for  the  drink 
evil,  437  ; in  question  of  poverty 
and  drink,  407 
Rig-Vedas,  the,  3 
Robinson,  Captain,  the  case  of, 
296  note 

Rome,  results  of  intemperance  in 


described  by  Seneca,  22;  temper- 
ance efforts  in,  21 
Rome  and  drink,  20 
Rum,  recipe  by  Dr.  Riant  for 
making,  47  ; recipe  for  making 
old  Jamaica,  47 ; spirit  from 
sugar  refuse,  45 

Russia,  alcohol  during  the  cam- 
paign of  1812  in,  96 ; alcoholic 
insanity  in,  282 

S 

St.  Jobnsbury,  Vermont,  prohibi- 
tion in,  443 

Salt  in  beer,  55,  77  note 
Saltaire,  prohibition  in,  441 
San  Francisco,  Inebriates’  home 
at,  373  note 

Santschu,  a drink  in  China  and 
Japan,  28 

Sarcostemma  acidum,  3 
Sardanapalus,  motto  of,  15 
Satan  and  Noah  planting  the 
vine,  9 

Satyavarman,  12 

Science,  man’s  self-deception  in, 
292 

Scotland,  temperance  reform  in, 
356  note 

Scots,  ancient,  drink  among  the, 
23 

Seneca,  results  of  intemperance  in 
Rome  described  by,  22 
Sensory  disturbance  from  alcohol, 
133 

Serpent  worship.  12,  13 
Sherry,  adulteration  of,  49 
Siam,  liquor  treaty  with,  355 
Silvei ■ King,  415 

Skin,  alcohol  present  in  evapora- 
tions of,  92,  93 ; Mr.  Startin 
on  diseases  of,  130 ; vascular 
changes  in  the,  133 
Sleeplessness  and  alcohol,  138 
Smoke,  alcohol  from,  42  note 
Sobriety,  Mr.  Joseph  Cowen  on 
importance  of,  414 ; relations 
between  it  and  crime,  156 
Social  drinking  habits,  436 
Society,  general  effects  of  alcohol 
on,  226-2S2 ; opinions  on  de- 


INDEX. 


581 


structive  effects  of  alcohol  on, 
230 

Soma,  3 ; real  character  of,  4 ; 

unique  properties  of,  5,  6 
Sparta  and  drink,  20 
Spirit,  definition  of,  26 
Stage,  power  and  province  of  the, 
415 

Statistics,  drink,  234 ; general 
value  of,  226 

Steam  kitchen  in  Berlin,  383 ; in 
Stockholm,  384 

Stimulant,  alcohol  as  a,  200 ; 
alcohol  no  right  to  be  called  a, 
119 ; effects  of  alcohol  as  a 
mental,  121 

Stimulants,  102  ; definition  of, 
105 ; divided  into  invigorators 
and  prostrators,  105  ; the  most 
important,  104 ; various  con- 
flicting definitions  of,  103 
Stockholm,  steam  kitchen  in,  384, 
385 

Stomach,  Dr.  Beaumont’s  ex- 
periments on  the  Canadian 
hunter’s,  74 ; effects  of  alcohol 
on,  73 

Stout,  child  mortality  from  use  of, 
during  lactation,  225 
Stramonium  in  liquor  adulteration, 
46 

Strichnia  in  liquor  adulteration,  46 
Sueves  and  drink,  23 
Suicide,  drink  as  a cause  of,  269 
Sugar,  alcohol  derived  from,  39 ; 
important  element  of  food,  68 

of  lead  in  liquor  adulteration, 

46 

Sulphate  of  iron  used  in  beer  to 
give  a bitter  taste,  56 
Sulphuric  acid,  in  liquor  adultera- 
tion, 46 ; used  to  give  age  to 
beer,  56 

Sura,  4 ; a national  curse,  6 

drinkers,  penalties  imposed 

upon,  6 

Sweden,  school  savings-bank  sys- 
tem in,  398 

Sweetwort  used  in  beer  for  froth - 
ings,  55 

Syracuse  and  drink,  22 


T 

Tafia,  a brandy  from  molasses,  45 
Temperance,  foundation  of  na- 
tional regeneration,  411 ; Par- 
liamentary report  in  1834  on, 
241 ; relative  healthfulness  of, 
and  drink,  268 

Temperance  movement,  abroad, 
192  note 

and  the  aristocracy,  449 ; 

characteristics  of  modern,  333 ; 
commencement  of  modem,  334; 
medical  history  of,  182 ; the 
three  medical  declarations  con- 
cerning alcohol,  184-186 
Temperance  reform,  Archbishop 
Benson  on,  420;  foundation  in 
individual  character  and  worth, 
455 ; in  Scotland,  356  note ; in- 
terestof  Duke  of  Albany  in,  432 ; 
interest  of  Prince  of  Wales  in, 
431 ; on  railroads,  444  ; physi- 
ology in,  334 ; Queen’s  sympathy 
with,  429  ; vested  in  love,  labour, 
and  humility,  456 ; why  past 
efforts  failed,  332 
Temperature  of  body,  effect  of 
alcohol  on,  95 

Therapeutic  uses  of  alcohol,  prin- 
cipal, 199 

Tissues,  meaning  of  alcoholic  pre- 
servation of,  80 ; parallel  effects 
of  alcohol  on  the  nervous  and 
muscular,  100 

Toasts  and  health-drinking,  434 
Tobacco  used  in  liquoradnlteration, 

47 

plant,  the  forbidden  fruit,  7 

note 

Total  abstinence  a qualification  for 
Church  membership,  425 
Trade  customs,  435 

uses  of  alcohol,  44 

Traditions,  ancient  wine,  6-12 
Tremor,  alcoholic,  Prof.  Kraft- 
Ebing  on,  140 

Tyrone,  prohibition  estate  in,  438 

U 

United  States,  annual  drink  bill  of, 
275 ; liquor  consumption  of,  277 ; 


582 


INDEX. 


liquor  industry  of,  276 ; liquor 
revenue  of,  277 ; statistics  of 
public-houses  in,  278 

Urine,  alcohol  traceable  in,  92,  93 

Y 

Vedic  people,  drinking  among  the, 
3-6 

Vice,  propagation  of,  372 

Yilla-Novus,  Arnoldus,  and  spirit 
distillation,  31 

Vine,  legends  of,  8 note;  plant- 
ing edict,  Emperor  Domitian’s 
famous,  22;  the  forbidden  fruit, 
7 ; planted  by  Noah,  a sprig 
from  Paradise,  8 

W 

War  and  education,  public  money 
devoted  to,  394 

Washington  Home  of  Chicago,  373 

note 

Water,  agitation  for  pure,  in 
London,  387 ; bibliography  of,  by 
Dr.  Plohn,  392  ; Di-s.  Becquerel, 
Eodier,  and  Albin  Koch,  on  pro- 
portion of,  in  blood,  64 ; drinking, 
390 ; drinking  in  1498,  308  ; for 
infants,  389 ; functions  of,  63 ; 
pure,  greatest  essential  for  life 
and  health,  386 ; in  beer,  55 ; of 
paramount  importance  to  life, 
63  ; ordinance  in  Antwerp,  387  ; 
quantity  of,  in  human  body,  63 ; 
scavenger  of  body,  84;  thera- 
peutic properties  of,  390 ; treat- 
ment in  fevers,  204 

Wealth,  Dr.  Channing’s  true  use 
of,  395 

Wealthy,  education  of,  399  note 

West  Lancashire  Kailway  Com- 
pany and  temperance,  444 


Westminster,  Duke  of,  on  temper- 
ance, 451 

White  Coppice,  prohibition  in,  441 
Whortleberries  used  in  colouring 
wine,  55 

Will,  clever  disguises  assumed  by 
the  alcoholized,  164;  difference 
between  intention  and,  160 ; 
effect  of  alcohol  on,  160 ; in 
general  life,  165 ; in  political 
life,  164 ; in  the  relations  be- 
tween master  and  man,  164 ; 
instance  of  power  of  drink  to 
annihilate,  160 ; negative  loss 
of,  165  ; positive  loss  of,  166 
Wine,  ancient  traditions,  6-12 ; 
commencement  of  drinking,  in 
England,  309;  milk  of  Venus,  11 ; 
use  of,  in  Lord’s  Supper,  423 
Wines,  adulterations  of,  port,  48, 
Rhine,  48,  sherry,  49 ; fortified 
for  export,  51,  52 ; fortified  by 
potato  spirit  in  London  docks, 
52 ; ills  caused  by  drinking  adul- 
terated, 54 ; Lancet  on  nutritious 
elements  in,  76  ; mallow-bloom, 
whortleberries,  elderberries,  co- 
chineal, and  logwood  used  in 
colouring,  55 ; reasons  for  adul- 
teration of,  47 ; rectification  with 
prepared  chalk,  53  ; Spanish, 
manufactured  from  raw  German 
spirits,  52 ; Daily  Telegraph  on, 
52 

Wisconsin  Centrab  Railway  and 
temperance,  445 
Women  and  alcohol,  35S-367 
Work,  capacity  for,  reduced  by 
alcohol,  123 

Worth,  human,  foundation  of,  167 
Y 

Yeast  fungi,  generation  of,  40 


PRINTED  15Y  WILLIAM  CLOWES  AND  SONS,  LIMITED,  LONDON  AND  LLCCLES. 


